A Great Meal Coming to a Driveway Near You

Chef David Leathers takes to the road with his elevated Southern cuisine

Buttery deviled eggs topped with pepper jelly, roasted pork belly, a signature collard green salad, 24-hour sous vide beef short ribs and a buttermilk tart with fresh peaches and miso-whiskey caramel are just a few of the dishes you can enjoy without ever leaving home. Welcome aboard the “Chef Trailer,” a vehicle complete with a custom kitchen and comfortable cabin serving a single table for up to 14. It’s the brainchild of Chef David Leathers, aka the “Foodsmith.” David’s chef-driven meals are on a roll, literally. The venue for the menu is neither a restaurant nor an event, but someone’s driveway.  

“I was doing private dinners, going into houses,” Chef David says, recalling the genesis of his inspiration. “Even if it was a great kitchen, it was always like, ‘Where’s your cutting board again?’”  

And so, in his culinary-inclined mind, which is informed by a boyhood growing up in the family BBQ business in Mississippi followed by culinary school in Pennsylvania, Chef David’s wheels began to turn. “Normally, I was bringing a bunch of stuff into people’s homes because you knew that they weren’t going to have that. So I started thinking, okay, maybe I’ll build a mobile kitchen and work out of there.” 

Great idea, but one that still left the problem of a messy, post-feast table. So the chef expanded his idea further, placing the table in the cabin. “People can take 15 steps from their front door and enter this immersive experience,” he says.  “By the end of the meal, folks have forgotten that they are already home.” 

One of the most magical things that happens around the table is connection. Without the distractions of an all-too-often noisy restaurant, guests can focus on each other, the food and one chef.  

Indeed, David does it all, from driving the trailer to cooking to serving. He is the chef, sommelier and server.   

On the Menu: 

Deviled egg + fried chicken skin 
Hidden Holler Farm 

Heirloom cornbread + buttermilk stracciatella + heirloom tomato + Benton’s 14-month-old country ham 
Beaver Dam Creek Farm, Hidden Holler Farm, Old Stone Creamery 
Bloomsbury Farm, Benton’s 

Sunday gravy + grits  
Beaver Dam Creek Farm, Old Stone Creamery 
Bear Creek Farm 

Bear Creek Farm beef short ribs + buttermilk whipped potatoes + smoked collard green chimichurri + jus gras  
Bear Creek Farm, Colbert Farm, Old Stone Creamery 

Schedule your own driveway moment with the Foodsmith at foodsmithnashville.com.

Find chef David’s recipe for collards & white bbq sauce here.