Randy Rayburn
Owner
Sunset Grill, Midtown Cafe, Cabana
Most people first meet Randy Rayburn at one of his nationally renowned restaurants, Sunset Grill in HillsboroVillage, or Midtown Cafe on 19th Avenue south. But they are just as likely to meet him in and around Nashville, giving his time as a philanthropist and community leader. Randy is passionate about giving back to the community. He designates one percent of all sales from his restaurants to non-profit and community organizations. In the last five years alone that has totaled more than $300,000.
An avid supporter of hunger-relief and non-profit arts organizations, Rayburn also passionately cares about Nashville’s economic development. He serves as the Chairman of the NashvilleConvention Center and on the Nashville State Community College Board. He was most recently elected to sit on the board of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.
Rayburn believes that Middle Tennessee prospers as each individual and business succeeds. To that end he has focused many of his efforts in and around the revitalization of HillsboroVillage.
He created the Non-Event Patron’s Party for Nashville’s Table which has raised more than one-million dollars for the expansion of the only local food-rescue and delivery organization in Middle Tennessee. He is also a past president and board member. In addition, you have probably run into him while he was organizing fundraising events such as Taste of the Nation, Taste of the NFL and Generous Helpings. For the last 7 years his Sunset Grill was chosen to represent Nashville at the national Taste of the NFL dinner benefiting United Way.
Rayburn is part of the Leadership Nashville class of 1998 and was nominated for the Mary Katherine Strobel Award for Community Volunteerism the same year. In 2000 he was named Outstanding Volunteer of the Year by the Nashville Society for Fund Raising Executives. In 2009 Randy was nominated for Tennessean of the Year (click to read more).
Sunset Grill (Randy Rayburn) was also selected as the single-unit finalist for the National Restaurant Association Neighbor Award in 2001, an award given to recognize the philanthropic efforts of restaurant operations. He was named statewide restaurateur of the year in 2001 and serves on its advisory board.
Read about Randy in The Tennessean.
Read about Randy in the Nashville Business Journal.
Brian Uhl
Executive Chef
Brian Uhl specializes in wild game dishes in the framework of contemporary cuisine. Uhl trained as an apprentice to Sigi Eisenberg, and has also worked under many other noted chefs, including Thomas Keller of the French Laundry, Jean-Louis Palladin in New York, and Boris Keller, a Michelin-star chef of Germany. Since settling in Nashville, he has been associated with Wild Boar and F. Scott’s and with the Opryland and Stouffer Hotels. Brian’s innovative cooking has brought recognition from such specialty publications as World Wine News, Bon Appétit, and Food Arts, as well as The New York Times, USA Today, and GQ, and he has been featured on the Food Network. He has represented the Tennessee Titans at the NFL's Taste of the NFL for the last 5 years and has given his time to several other charity events including Second Harvest Food Drive, March of Dimes Generous Helpings, and Soup Sunday.
At Midtown Cafe, Brian still offers local favorites, but adds his own distinctive flair, such as the Seared Maine Day Boat Scallops over creamed leeks and spinach, finished with tomato chive concasse and balsamic syrup.
Brian serves as Executive Chef at Midtown Cafe. He is also an owner and the Executive Chef at CABANA.
Chris Cunningham
Chef de Cuisine
Chris began work at Sunset Grill in 2006. His first big opportunity was as chef of 106 Club for 4 years where he learned a lot about being a chef through trial & error. Since then he has been sous chef for many local independent restaurant staples such as F. Scotts, Bound’ry & Zola where he worked under Deb Paquette who taught him about perfection, consistency & passion for the world of food. Chris is currently Chef de Cuisine at Sunset Grill working on menu development & keeping the food at the same level of consistency which has been a trademark of Sunset Grill for years now.
