Chef Gregory Gourdet has built a career around pushing boundaries—both in the kitchen and beyond it. A familiar face to television audiences, Gourdet was a finalist on Top Chef Season 12 and later returned as a judge on Top Chef: Portland. His cooking combines his Haitian heritage with the flavors and ingredients of the Pacific Northwest, creating food that is deeply personal while remaining rooted in place.
In Portland, Oregon, Gourdet is the chef and owner of Kann, his acclaimed Haitian-inspired restaurant that has earned national attention, including the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. His cooking has earned him multiple accolades and made him one of the most recognizable chefs representing Portland’s evolving food scene.
Gourdet is also the author of Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health, a cookbook that reflects his approach to making flavorful food accessible while accommodating a variety of dietary needs.
We caught up with Gourdet at Park City Song Summit, where he talked about his perfect day in Portland, the Pacific Northwest ingredients inspiring his menus, memorable food travels, Haitian Thanksgiving traditions, staying healthy on the road, his dream cooking collaboration and whether he would consider returning to Top Chef.
What would be your perfect day in Portland?
I would probably start with either a hike or a run in Forest Park, or preferably the Gorge, which is about 45 minutes away. Forest Park is in the city. It’s running distance from where most people live. It’s over 500 acres, so it’s one of the biggest urban park spaces in the country. It’s absolutely amazing for trail running.
But the Gorge is one of the most beautiful places to run in America as well. There are mountains and waterfalls, and it’s about 45 minutes outside of town.
After that, I would probably go to Knot Springs, which is a spa in Portland, and they have an amazing hydrotherapy experience. It includes a warm pool, hot tub, sauna, steam and cold plunge. You do that multiple times and it takes all the soreness away.
Then it’s time to eat. There are plenty of opportunities to eat in Portland. Some of my favorites for lunch are Top Burmese, which is a really casual Burmese restaurant. The tea leaf salad is amazing, the fermented chili salad is amazing, and the chicken curry is amazing. It’s served with coconut rice.
I love juice, so maybe a juice from a juice bar. After that, see some friends. The art museum is always a great place. I tend to eat a lot on my days off because I like to support all my friends at their new restaurants. One of the restaurants I’ve been dying to go back to is Astera. My good friend Aaron (Adams) is a chef there, and it’s a vegan tasting menu. It’s probably one of the best vegan tasting menus in the country.
There might be a little dancing that evening. We go to 45 East sometimes. It’s a very classic venue. But, yeah, go see some live music around town. Usually just DJs for me.
I keep it pretty chill. I love getting massages, I love acupuncture, so a lot of holistic treatment. After spending a full day outside, I feel like I’ve accomplished quite a bit.
What’s inspiring your menus right now?
Both Kann and Sousòl are really seasonal. My team and I really enjoy seasonality. Currently, in Oregon, we’re at the height of tomato season, late-summer melons and the end of the cherries from Washington, which are some of the best cherries in the country.
Obviously, the berries are slowly coming to an end, but we still have tons of amazing strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Those are all really important berries for Oregon.
We’ve got plenty of seafood options and steak options. There are peaches on the menu, but we usually try to take advantage of all the seasonal ingredients. We fully take advantage of tomato season, berry season and stone fruit season.
Do you have a favorite Pacific Northwest ingredient?
Mount Hood strawberries are probably my favorite Oregon ingredient. They have a shorter season. We have various strawberry seasons in Oregon for different varieties, and different varieties have different seasons.
I think the Hood strawberries are one of the first strawberries to come out every year, and they’re my favorite. They’re small, bright red, super fragrant and juicy.
Oregon seafood is fantastic, too. I work with a group called Trawl & Fin. They source sustainable seafood from the West Coast off the shores of Washington and Oregon. I’ve been able to go fishing with them, so they’ve supplied us with some amazing fish this summer. Albacore is one of my favorite Oregon ingredients. Local rockfish, black cod and steelhead as well. We work with them quite a bit.
What destination has surprised you the most?
From a visual perspective, I was just in Switzerland for the first time, in the French and Swiss Alps. Culinarily, it’s not exactly for me. I’m dairy-free and gluten-free, and I don’t really eat red meat, so that region is very based on dairy, beef, cattle and lamb.
But visually, I was never really attracted to that part of the world or curious about it. I had a bunch of running opportunities there, and it was absolutely stunning. I definitely think it changed my life in terms of running in mountains and just how beautiful it is. I went paragliding over Mont Blanc. That was absolutely incredible.
I also appreciated how fresh the food was. I feel a lot of the produce in France is really exceptional, and I found that the produce in Switzerland itself was also really exceptional.
What’s your favorite food travel memory?
I think the first time I went to Thailand was really, really special. I’d had so much American Thai food, so being there for the first time—and my best friend’s father is Thai, so he was able to take us out during one of our first trips—and eating sticky rice and grilled chicken for the first time in Thailand was a very memorable moment.
Anytime I go somewhere and eat an iconic dish from the region, I’m always super excited. I remember having my first taco in Mexico. I remember having my first tajine in Morocco. Pasta in Italy.
The first time you have these things is a very special moment because you’re finally having food that’s from a specific region and you’re having it authentically in that region. I think that’s always exciting for me.
Do you have any special food traditions?
I’m really not a traditional person by any means. I’m pretty fluid. But Thanksgiving would probably be the most traditional food for me. There was a long period when I was living on the West Coast and we were only closed for one day for Thanksgiving, so I never made it back to the East Coast to see my family.
Then, when I opened my own restaurant and could control my schedule a little bit more, I started taking the opportunity to go see my parents for Thanksgiving. That’s been really special because now it includes my nieces. My parents live next to my sister in Atlanta, so we can all meet up at my sister’s and have a combination of American Thanksgiving food with our Haitian traditional flavors.
My mom makes a sweet potato dish. She boils the sweet potatoes and then simmers them in a syrup with cinnamon, star anise and vanilla. I’ve adapted her recipe. I actually roast my sweet potatoes with orange juice and coconut oil. We always have rice and beans and Haitian mac and cheese.
What is Haitian mac and cheese?
It’s pretty straightforward mac and cheese, but there’s onion mixed into the béchamel. I think my mom uses cheddar, but then there’s a little American cheese in there to give it that viscosity.
What’s your dream travel destination?
There are so many places I want to go. I really want to go to West Africa because so much of the history of the food that I make started in West Africa. I’ve only been to North Africa. I’ve been to Morocco, but the cuisine there is quite different from the cuisine of West Africa.
I’m very, very curious to go to West Africa. I think that’s super exciting to me. I’ve also never been to South America. I’m going to Peru for the first time this year, so I’m very curious about that region and all the diversity of ingredients and seafood that’s available there.
Who would be your dream musician to collaborate with in the kitchen?
That’s a great question. My favorite DJ is Carl Cox, who is a legendary British house and techno DJ. He’s just a jolly man.
He actually has a couple of videos where he’s baking banana bread, and it’s the funniest, cutest thing to see this legendary DJ at home making banana bread. So I think being able to cook with him would be absolutely amazing.
What’s your must-pack travel item?
I always travel with a neck pillow. That’s bulky because I always sleep on a plane—every single plane. I work on a plane sometimes. I’ve worked on my cookbooks on planes a lot, but usually I’m tired and it’s just easy to sleep.
I always travel with plenty of snacks—healthy snacks, jerky, nuts, protein bars, some chocolates. Just from sweet to salty. And I always have a sweater because I run cold, so I’m always trying to be nice and cozy.
I keep my passport in my backpack because of the way I travel. I just always need it. I also have an emergency pack with a toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, some ibuprofen and some natural sleeping aids, just in case something happens.
You wrote Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health. What are some simple tips for eating healthy while traveling?
There are healthy options out there if you look. Even here in Park City, we’ve been at a place called Luna’s Kitchen. It’s a beautiful, cheery, sunny health café with tons of juice and protein bowls. There are tons of gluten-free options.
At an airport, there are definitely healthy options, from smoothies to bowl spots. I don’t eat fast food. It’s not real food to me. I don’t think it’s good for you, so it’s not my thing. If that’s my only option, I’ll get a PowerBar or some type of granola or something at a convenience store. That’s why I bring my snack pack.
What’s your guilty pleasure dish?
There’s this coconut cake made in New York City by By the Way Bakery. It’s their Coconut Cloud Cake. Everything they make is gluten-free and dairy-free, which is what I am.
It’s obviously very hard to get great textures out of things that are gluten-free and dairy-free. Things have gotten better over the past 10 or 20 years as people figure out the best combinations for the best textures. But this is a very, very moist, coconut-forward cake that’s totally sweet.
I have a thing for sweet desserts. Whenever I feel like I’ve accomplished something or I’m really, really stressed out and have no other outlet, this is what I go to. I just love it.
Would you consider competing on Top Chef again?
Yes. I’ve said I would do it one more time. It’s such a great, amazing experience, and it’s really fun.
It’s interesting because I haven’t been on it for many years. It’s been about eight years since I competed on it. I think my last season was Season 12, and then we filmed Top Chef: Portland, where I was a judge.
I have kids who grew up watching me on Top Chef, who are coworkers. I just met a family where the mom has a five-year-old and a nine-year-old, and they watch Top Chef. Those are all reruns, so it’s pretty impressive how much of an impact that show has made in people’s lives.
That is exciting for me—to potentially go back on and do it again.
What have been some of your favorite moments at Park City Song Summit?
This is my first time at Song Summit. I’ve known about the festival for several years. Some other friends invited me, but Andrew (Zimmern) kind of convinced me because I trust him. He’s an amazing person—I’m super grateful to be here.
The feedback from our opening dinner was really wonderful. A lot of people were really happy with it, and that always feels good. The plantains were a hit. The eggplant was a hit.
But I think it’s just cool to see people who have had their community for so long. You can still do the things that you love for your whole life. The best festivals are the festivals where everyone just hangs out. It’s not like a weird fandom. Everyone is just hanging out—the festivalgoers, the artists, the chefs. Everyone’s just spending time with each other.
I think that’s what makes this special.
How does Park City Song Summit compare with other food festivals?
A lot of other festivals have a lot of corporate sponsor needs, which isn’t bad. It’s just the business. I feel different here because it’s so chill. There isn’t a lot of, “Let’s take a picture for this brand,” or “Let’s do this for this.” Everyone is just spending time with each other and listening to music.
There’s really only one event at a time, which is very different. Pretty much the entire group is going to one thing at a time and spending each event together. That’s probably the biggest difference.
Rapid Fire Questions
One place for tacos?
Anywhere is LA
One place for breakfast?
abcV in New York City. It’s a vegetarian restaurant run by my mentors. They have really amazing gluten-free and dairy-free almond pancakes. I love pancakes.
Dinner with one person, dead or alive?
Barack Obama. I’ve never met him. I can’t wait. He’s a legend.
Window or aisle seat?
Window. I’ve got to lay my head back.
Favorite Food Network show?
Tournament of Champions.
Mountains or beach?
Mountains. I’m a mountain person. I love the beach, but I think you can be a little bit more physically active in mountains. I like hiking and going up.
One country to visit?
Australia.
Favorite airport dining experience?
I like these donuts in Portland. They’re mochi donuts. They’re gluten-free and dairy-free, so they’re a treat. They’re so squishy and soft. I don’t really eat preservatives and stuff like that, but it’s a pretty good donut.
Street food or fine dining?
Street food.
I enjoy both, and when I go on trips, I tend to either do both or separate them. Sometimes I go and do just street food. Sometimes I do just fine dining. Sometimes I do both. But I think fine dining is a commitment. Street food is more fun, easier, and you get to see more of the local community. You get to see what their culture is through street food.
What is the perfect bite?
For me, the perfect bite is probably a mix of sweet and salty. Oftentimes, I think nut butter and jelly is really the perfect bite for me.
My favorite snack is sunflower butter and strawberry jelly. Sometimes I eat it with a spoon. I think chasing the salty, super unctuous, nutty flavor with crunchy sunflower butter and then following that with spoonfuls of strawberry jam is my favorite thing.