Kent Rathbun

Kent Rathbun (born William Kent Rathbun on April 17, 1961, in Kansas City, Missouri ) is a four-time Beard Award-nominated American chef and restaurateur. His restaurants included Abacus, in Dallas, Texas, an upscale restaurant chosen as most popular in Dallas by the 2007 edition of the Zagat Survey; Jasper's, in the Texas cities of Dallas, Plano(closed), Richardson, The Woodlands, and Austin(closed); and Hickory (closed), his upscale burger and bbq concept in Plano. He also catered in Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston and Austin with his entity Kent Rathbun Catering.

In February 2008 he and his brother, fellow chef Kevin Rathbun, appeared as contestants on Iron Chef America. They beat Bobby Flay on the "elk" episode. The scene where Chef Kent carries the elk appeared on Iron Chef's Greatest Moments.

Career Rathbun entered the food industry at age 14, washing dishes at a local Sambo's, a job for which he had lied about his age, claiming to be one year older. By the end of his first day as a dishwasher, he had asked to help the night cook, who within three weeks recommended that Rathbun be promoted to the cooking station. Zagat rated Abacus highly in 2008 as well as in 2007, granting the restaurant a rating of 28 points (on a scale of 30) for its food and 27 for its decor and service — a rating range that the guide describes as denoting "extraordinary to perfection" — and quoting survey respondents who called Rathbun a "genius." Abacus has been awarded the Forbes Four-Star and the AAA Four Diamonds for over 14 years. Jasper's was awarded NRN Hot Concept Award and was named as having some of the top ribs in America by Bon Appetit.

Personal life Rathbun is currently married to fellow restaurateur Tracy Rathbun, co-owner of Dallas' Lovers Seafood and Shinsei restaurant with Lynne Fearing. The close ties among the four restaurateurs were highlighted in media coverage when chefs Tre Wilcox of Abacus and Casey Thompson of Shinsei were selected as contestants in the third season of the reality television program Top Chef.