Meet Melissa Keating | Co-Owner & Special Events Coordinator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Keating and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
COLOR. Something so simple, so elementary has a huge impact on the perception, emotion, and human behavior when it comes to food and hospitality.

We are obsessed with the psychology of color and how it excites and stimulates as well as enhances a person’s appetite. When designing a new concept on the menu, we do so by using a blank piece of paper and colored pencils. We draw the picture first, using different colors to see what attracts the eye, what is sexy, and what is simplistic, yet sophisticated.

When we designed our dining room, we researched what colors were considered royalty, and what colors were calming. We believe that dining out should be an experience that is stimulated by what you see, what you touch and what you eat.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My husband and I met at college. He was studying the culinary arts. I was studying hospitality and tourism. We both understood the words “be kind” and it will get you where you need to be. Learning how to work together every day, when you are married to the person, is not the easiest thing to do. We go above and beyond for our guests. We welcome everyone with a smile, a kind gesture, and sometimes a hug or handshake. The real lesson and the real skill is being able to continue and extend that “hospitality” to each other as husband and wife. The challenge of being able to live together, be married to each other and work together is not an easy task. We will celebrate 30 years of marriage this year and we can actually say, WE MADE IT!

We are servants at heart. We love people, we love food, and we love the experience. Our brand is to remain true to ourselves, We continue to be better than we were yesterday, to never forget where we came from, and to appreciate and acknowledge our staff, our guests, our family, and our friends. Team work makes the dream work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Obviously, we would take them to EPIC Restaurant. (our restaurant) for a fine dining experience. Our cocktails are named after literary works. And then, we introduce them to Lagrange and Columbus.

White water rafting on the Chattahoochee.
Lunch at Frank’s Alley!
Fetch Park for relaxation and animal therapy.

Catch a show at The Rivercenter or The Springer Opera House.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A shout-out to our children, for understanding this crazy, spontaneous lifestyle. They supported our long hours, and our late family dinners, They forgave us when we missed baseball games, and school plays.

A huge shout-out to The Georgia Restaurant Association! The knowledge, the support, the information, and the willingness to go above and beyond has been a wonderful addition to our life.

SHOUT OUT to all our failures, all our hardships, all our brokenness. We are thankful for the lessons learned along the way, the struggles we faced, the love we have for each other, and our faith in God.

Website: www.epiccuisine.com

Instagram: epicrestaurantga

Facebook: https://facebook.com/epiccuisine

Image Credits
John Pyle Photography