Growing Up: Upon taking culinary classes as an early teenager, Chef Adam Shoebridge became infatuated with cooking, recalling how naturally it came to him. Ever since he can remember, the North Carolina native has always held a job, sometimes multiple, at a restaurant. Today, he works at Helena Avenue Bakery in the Funk Zone, where he’s shedding light on the Southern cuisine of his youth.
Favorite Dishes: Shrimp and grits and Nashville hot chicken.
On the Road: Shoebridge’s kitchen experiences span geographically — from Hong Kong to Australia — and culturally, cooking everything from Jamaican to Lebanese. In his early years, he jumped from restaurant to restaurant, though he had a formative time working at Avondale in Colorado, where he commiserated with well-known chefs from Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.