Inside the Kitchen: Six Questions with Georgie Chef RJ Yoakum

5 Minute read

01 Mar 2025

Journalist

Chef RJ Yoakum has carved out a dynamic career in the culinary world, blending playful creativity with a meticulous respect for technique and ingredients. As the executive chef at Georgie in Dallas, Yoakum leads with a philosophy rooted in bold flavors and meaningful connections. From formative memories of cooking with his aunt to dreams of earning a Michelin star, Yoakum’s journey is as inspiring as it is flavorful.

What Is Your Deserted Island Meal?

Oh, my God, it's gonna be hilarious. It's gonna be pretty ballsy, but just perfectly steamed rice with king crab. Or cacio e pepe—carbs on carbs.

What’s Your Most Poignant Food Memory?

My aunt gave me a Christmas present when I was nine, and she gave me a cooking lesson where we went into the store and we made a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was when she wanted to see if I was into cooking. She wouldn't allow anybody in the kitchen for holidays when she was cooking. And her doing that for me, it was the biggest eye-opening thing, because she made her own chocolate truffles and ice cream. She would read and do all the types of things that a professional chef would want to do or go to culinary school. She kind of instilled that in me. At 18, when I became a dishwasher, she bought me the French Laundry Cookbook, and ironically, I said in culinary school, I'm never gonna work at a French restaurant, but I ended up working at the French Laundry and at a French restaurant, and everything that I said I wasn't gonna do, I ended up doing. Yeah, she's one that got me all into it. She's not with me anymore, but her giving me that first cooking lesson was really what set me up for this.

What Does Fine Dining Mean to You?

I think so that's a fucking great question, because fine dining used to be like, it has to have a white tablecloth, it has to be proper, it has to be so buttoned up. But I think nowadays it has to be done the right way with professionalism and care. Everything you do when it comes to water, setting the table, opening the door for guests, I think it's just the professionalism we have behind it. It doesn't need to be in the fanciest restaurant or done with the highest quality wine glass, because I'm sure in like Spain or Italy, the restaurants are holes-in-the-wall, and they're some of the best restaurants in the world. But everything is done with care and love and intention, and that goes with the food too. You can make a humble ingredient into something luxurious.

What Are Your Restaurant Goals or Dreams?

There's a lot. I have a lot of personal goals, but I think definitely in the next few years, getting in the Michelin Guide and getting a star, but also achieving recognition for hospitality, like a James Beard Award for our group. Do I have goals for the restaurant, or do I have goals for the group and the individuals in it? Without all them, I'm really not that much.

What’s On Your Restaurant Bucket List to Visit?

Anywhere in the world, Frantzén in Stockholm. Dave Beran’s new restaurant Seline in Los Angeles. And César in New York.

What Is Your Food/Cooking Philosophy?

I think it’s playful with powerful flavors and a deep understanding of technique and ingredients.

The Chef

RJ Yoakum grew up in Orange County, California, where he first developed a love for food through his aunt. “She was the matriarch of our family, a very good cook, and she brought everybody together with food,” Yoakum recalls. Initially planning to play collegiate basketball, he made a sudden shift to the culinary world, becoming a dishwasher at 19.

Within months, Yoakum’s talent and determination stood out, earning him a recommendation to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York. “I had never been to New York, but I knew it was the epicenter of culinary,” he says. “I just had to throw myself in there and see how far I could go.”

Yoakum’s hunger to learn took him from staging in Michelin-starred restaurants like The Clove Club in London to immersing himself in global culinary traditions. “I wanted to either go to Europe or Asia,” he explains, and his studies brought him to Italy, France, and Japan. He fondly recalls traveling through Champagne and Southern Italy, saying, “I just wanted to immerse myself in something I didn’t really know a lot about, like wine.”

After graduating in 2018, Yoakum joined Angler in San Francisco, where he refined his craft under Joshua Skenes, and then The French Laundry in Napa Valley, where he honed his creativity and discipline. “The French Laundry was incredibly competitive,” he says. “You weren’t there to make friends, but to get the job done.”

In 2023, Yoakum took the helm at Georgie in Dallas. Despite challenges, he transformed the restaurant into a New American gem, working closely with local farmers and ranchers to highlight Texas ingredients in innovative ways. “I’ve had to manipulate and play with food a lot more here because it’s not California,” he explains. “But I think that’s one of my strengths—it’s working so far.”

01 Mar 2025