Have you ever had a professional chef come into your home and cook for your party or family gathering? Or be able to enjoy entertaining your guests and not have to worry about getting dinner ready or what wine to serve? If not, let me tell you about my nephew, Chef Seth Hargett.
A Mobile native and St. Paul’s graduate, Seth attended Furman University in Greenville, SC on a track scholarship. He also began working part-time in the restaurant industry. His grandfather, a retired Air Force Colonel in Tampa was known for preparing fabulous meals and Seth was exposed to fine dining and wine at an early age. His grandmother, my mother, also knew her way around a kitchen, especially after a fishing trip or a jubilee on Mobile Bay. To say we ate well is an understatement!
After his sophomore year in college, Seth decided to move to Vail, Colorado with his best friend from Mobile. While he waited to get in-state residency to finish his degree at the University of Colorado, he earned his keep working in restaurants. Working at the Hyatt Regency in Beaver Creek, he began his life-long affinity for fine dining. Here he watched the Maître d’ control the entire room using just his eyes. By this time, Seth knew what he wanted to do with his career.
A year later, he moved to Boulder and completed his degree in Sociology while working at the European Café, one of the two top Zagat-rated restaurants in the city at the time. This launched his path to making fine-dining cuisine his passion. Upon graduation, Seth moved to New Orleans and sought to learn under Chef Gerard Maras, who was the executive chef at Mr. B’s Bistro. Gerard hired Seth and taught him the intricacies of “Farm to Table” dining.
On the path to continue learning from the best, Seth left Mr. B’s to go work at Emeril’s. He served as the Saucier, making all the restaurant’s sauces. One memorable night, Nicholas Cage came in and purchased a $25,000 bottle of wine that he shared with Seth. It was quite a learning experience, to say the least.
While living in New Orleans, Seth would return to Mobile and Pt. Clear on occasion to prepare meals for family, friends, and clients that were familiar with his creations in the kitchen. “It was fun and challenging because they would purchase all of the ingredients, and I never knew what I would be cooking with. Kind of like some of the reality TV cooking shows today,” he says.
In the early 2000s, with his experience in New Orleans, and time spent preparing private dinners in South Alabama, Mike Eveleth, Director of Food and Beverage at The Grand Hotel at the time, took note of Seth and asked him to join the Grand and revamp the menu as the new Chef de Cuisine. He walked into frozen fish and vegetables and powdered sauces. “It was a typical hotel menu when I started,” he says. Seth began utilizing fresh seafood, meats, poultry, and vegetables to include in his new creative offerings.
Seth stayed at the Grand for four years before leaving to help a friend open a new restaurant in Loxley, Floppers Seafood Shack. He also continued doing private diners and parties for friends, clients, and business executives throughout South Alabama. In 2009, he had an opportunity to develop and own Five Guys restaurants in the Pensacola area, Baldwin County, New Orleans, and Memphis, TN. He later purchased two additional Five Guys on the Mississippi coast as well.
Living on his and his family’s property in Baldwin County, with his fiancé, Ree Segars, son Grayton, and his yellow Labrador “Sonny”, Seth had convenient proximity to his restaurants. However, after 12 good years and 13 stores later, Seth and his partners opted to sell the Five Guys operation in 2021.
In July 2022, Seth and Ree decided to tap into his food and wine experience and formed Absintheminded Enterprises, a wine importing and distributing company licensed in Alabama. They are focusing on small production growers’ varietals and up-and-coming winemakers. The wines he represents are high-quality, well-crafted, yet excellently priced from South Africa, France, Spain, Oregon, and California.
Seth uses his connections in the restaurant industry to introduce his offerings and has been well-received throughout Alabama. With his food and wine experience, he can prepare excellent combinations of private dinners and wine pairings for special small events and celebrations.
“I’m doing what I love,” he says. ” I like working with people who appreciate good food and wine. It’s fun to use local fresh ingredients and help people expand their palettes!”
Give Seth a call or email, seth@absinthemindedenterprises.com, to schedule a private dinner for friends, family, or business clients. You won’t be disappointed. He can also be reached at 251 - 648 - 8159 or sethhargett@gmail.com.
Also, for a great documentary on the Brennen family’s rise to New Orleans food fame, watch Ella Brennen: Commanding the Table, the story of Ella and the chefs that she made famous, and the service she created that is second to none!
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