While his high school buddies played sports and tossed balls, Kevin Rathbun, a former chef apprentice student at JCCC, learned to throw omelets with seasoned pros.

Rathbun, owner of nationally acclaimed Kevin Rathbun Steak and Krog Bar in Atlanta, spent his adolescence honing culinary skills in area restaurants including Sambo's, Smugglers' Inn, the Kansas City Club, Harris House and the American Restaurant.

"I just liked working," said Rathbun. "It came easy to me."

Hospitality started at home. Rathbun's mother operated some of Kansas City's fine restaurants, including La Bonne Auberge, Jasper's Restaurant and Rainforest. She served family meals with china, glass and silver. His father provided jazz and guests who made music.

"We would have jam sessions," Rathbun said. "My mother would cook."

By age 17, Rathbun had graduated from high school and advanced to sous chef at the American Restaurant in Kansas City, Mo. Chef Bradley Ogden at the American recommended Rathbun to Hallmark for a scholarship in the chef apprenticeship program at Johnson County Community College. He continued working at the American and started classes in 1981.

"They taught menu planning and financing, basic knowledge I never had," he said.

He gained hands-on skills sculpting ice, carving tallow and pulling sugar while learning classic cookery. Rathbun graduated in 1985 with an associate's degree in chef apprenticeship.

"It was a great experience," he said. "I met a lot of good people."

Since leaving JCCC, Rathbun has worked with celebrity chefs and restaurateurs including Bradley Ogden, Emeril Lagasse, Stephen Pyles, Ella Brennan and Pano Karratossos. He worked as chef at Baby Routh in Dallas and later as corporate chef at the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group. In 2004, he opened Rathbun's Restaurant, then subsequently Krog Bar and Kevin Rathbun Steak.

"I always knew I wanted to have a steak house," Rathbun said.

Since its inception, Rathbun's cuisine and service have been recognized by national magazines including Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Oprah Magazine, Esquire, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Wall Street Journal, Southern Living and many more.

In February 2008, Rathbun competed on television's Iron Chef America with his brother, Chef Kent Rathbun. The brothers beat Chef Bobby Flay using elk as their secret ingredient.

"It's TV, it is action-packed, it's competition," said Rathbun. "It's a stress test."

Rathbun returned to JCCC in January 2008 as inaugural chef in the JCCC Master Chef Series, a fundraiser for JCCC's award-winning culinary team.

"It was a big honor to be invited back," Rathbun said. "I had a good time with the students."