Epic Restaurant lives up to its name by closing 2023 with another prestigious award
Epic restaurant was aptly named after it began and ended 2023 with awards.
On Nov. 30, chef and owner Jamie Keating along with his Epic team members accepted the Restaurateur of the Year award at the 2023 Georgia Restaurant Association Crystal of Excellence (GRACE) Awards Gala.
The GRACE Awards are peer-nominated and winners are selected by the GRACE Academy, which includes past honorees, the GRA Board of Directors and the GRA Advisory board.
In January, Epic was among 11 restaurants to receive a Distinguished Restaurant of North America (DiRōNA) Award.
The success Epic experienced makes Keating consider a famous Spider-Man quote, he told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“With great power, comes great responsibility,” Keating said. “I’m not calling this power. I’m just calling it a responsibility.”
Keating said it’s important for him to stay humble and make sure the restaurant doesn’t start doing anything different than they have in the past. It’s important to make sure the quality of Epic remains consistent.
“We’re only as good as the meal we cooked tonight,” Keating said. “. . .We just can’t lose sight.”
Attending the GRACE Awards Gala
When the nominees were announced in October, Keating and his wife, Melissa, were excited to be finalists that included the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group.
“They’ve been major players (in Atlanta) for a very, very, very long time,” Keating said. “A group that I looked up to from a young cook up to a restaurateur.”
The night of the gala, Keating brought 11 team members from the kitchen and front of the house to join him at the annual black-tie event that honors Georgia’s restaurant industry.
Socializing was a little awkward, Keating said, because he and the other Columbus-based staff felt a bit on the outside because a large number of attendees were based in Atlanta and seemed to already know each other.
But that wasn’t stopping his group from having a good time, he said.
“We were just happy to be part of the experience,” Keating said.
Before it came time to announce the winners, people were asking him to speculate Epic’s chances of winning the award.
“Do you think there will be a 50% chance of winning, a 60% chance of winning?” people asked Keating.
“At the end of the day, whatever we did to get this honor, we should be very proud that we are here today,” he responded.
Throughout the gala’s program, Keating sat at his table for 12 thinking about all the baby steps he and Melissa took over the past 12 years to get to this point. He had no clue whether Epic would win or not.
They had done everything they needed to do, he said, and everything else was up to God.
“Once again there always is one winner,” the presenter told the room. “And I’m so proud to announce tonight that the GRACE award goes to Epic Restaurant.”
Putting Columbus on the map
Twelve years ago when Keating and Melissa opened Epic in Columbus they were told the restaurant wouldn’t last two years.
But the couple wanted to show an opportunity for growth in the city.
“(The goal) was to show that it’s not just a barbecue town,” Keating said. “Barbecue’s fantastic, but there’s an opportunity for restaurants to elevate.”
Keating hopes the success of Epic in Columbus will encourage other restaurateurs to take a “leap of faith” in the city.
To reach this goal, Keating focused on creating a culture in his restaurant among the team members.
Keating took his experiences in fine dining both as a chef and a customer to enhance a positive experience at Epic.
“I want people to walk out and not only say that was great food,” he said. “But that was great service.”
