From his distinctive Southern drawl to his trademark duds - denim bib overalls and a red and white tractor cap heralding "Save the Farm" - Jack McDavid is a "good ol' boy" with a unique recipe for success.

His innovative American cooking style and old-fashioned work ethic have produced rave reviews from customers and food professionals alike. With the skill of a classically trained chef who adds his own special culinary flourishes, Jack is known for serving ample portions of hearty, basic foods by weaving marvelous combinations of the finest naturally grown farm-fresh ingredients. Jack was reared on a little farm in the Smokey Mountain hallow of Clinchport, Virginia. His mama cooked the food that his daddy grew, hunted, or fished. "We raised just about everything we ate," he recalls. The Appellation trailblazer has translated this natural, wholesome style of Southern down-home cooking into his artfully sophisticated menus.

Jack found his calling while working his way through the University of Virginia. As an undergraduate in the Class of 1976, he was studying accounting and dreaming of law school when he got a job in a Charlottesville sandwich shop, first doing the books and then finding his way into the kitchen. When nearby Monticello needed a chef, it was Jack who ended up making chicken salad for Queen Elizabeth II. If her compliments didn't seal his fate, perhaps those of Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat and Menachim Began did.

Jack decided on a career as a chef, honing his skills in more than 115 restaurants during the 1970s and early '80s. He chose his teachers well: From a Greek short-order cook, he learned how to sauté. From Charlie Yu, Chiang Kai-Shek's ex-chef, he learned the proper use of knives and the art of presentation. He learned classical French Technique, as well as discipline, at Washington's bastion of French Cuisine, Le Lion D'or. There, he became proficient at every station in the uncompromising kitchen of Jean-Pierre Goyenvalle. Jack "graduated" in 1984, moving to Philadelphia to pursue a culinary "master's degree" at the world-renowned Le Bec Fin. It was Georges Perrier who encouraged the budding entrepreneur to experiment and enjoy himself in the kitchen.

Jack opened his first restaurant, the Down Home Diner, in March 1987, in the Reading Terminal Market. He wowed patrons with inexpensive, inventive dishes like Cornbread Pizza with Tennessee ham and Chicken-fried Buffalo Steak with red-eye gravy. By then, Jack was in love with Philadelphia, and Philadelphians loved his creative American cooking style. He realized another dream in late November, 1989, when he introduced "haute country" cuisine at Jack's Firehouse in Fairmount, serving wondrous preparations like Black-eyed Pea and Hog Jowl Soup, Crawdads and Macaroni with spicy tomato sauce, and Indian Ridge Buffalo with moonshine sauce and pickled turnips.

Jack's resolutely American regional style is clearly defined by his commitment to using products that are locally grown and raised. He welcomes to his back door Pennsylvania farmers, who sell him their herbs, vegetables, eggs, cured hams, bacon and game. He buys from 250-300 farmers and breeders, and invests in local farms and greenhouses so that he can get the perfect vegetables and herbs all-year round. Everything served in his restaurants are McDavid-made - from the mayonnaise and ketchup, to the watermelon pickles and biscuits.

Elain Tait, former Inquirer food critic, labeled him "Philadelphia's most colorful restaurateur." He has received numerous honors, including Food & Wines magazine's "Best Chefs in America" Award. But Jack is well known not only as a busy celebrity chef, but as a man with a special mission. He crisscrosses the country to participate in dozens of charitable events each year. Whether it's the American Farmland Trust, the March of Dimes, Meals on Wheels, Chef's Aid, Share Our Strength, a Super Bowl Fundraiser, or a hospice benefit - if it's for a good cause, count him in.

Most often though, you'll find the married father of four still toiling as head chef at Jack's Firehouse or the Down Home Diner. It's all in a day's work. Visit http://www.jacksfirehouse.com/.

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