Eyhab "Happy" Hatab Tapped as Butcher and Bee Chef

It's still early in the game for Butcher and Bee's Nashville outpost, but they just made their most important hire, announcing via an email newsletter last Friday that Eyhab "Happy" Hatab will be their opening chef.

The update doesn't give much background info, but does say that he "comes from an Egyptian background and will be further exploring and expanding the [M]iddle [E]astern flavors and influences on [their] menu." He'll be joining the Charleston team for the rest of the spring and into summer, hosting bi-weekly dinners to preview the Nashville menu, as well as teaching cooking classes "that focus on the northern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean."

Hatab looks to be a very seasoned chef, with an online search revealing time spent in kitchens around the country, including New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pa., Connecticutt, San Antonio, Texas and Atlanta, Ga. In November of 2013 he was announced as the new executive chef at Atlanta's Barcelona Wine Bar, but appears to have vacated that position sometime in the latter part of 2014. Prior to that he was the executive chef at White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia.