Wayne Wetendorf

Jane Wetendorf made a donation in honor of Terri and Wayne Wetendorf.
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Chef Wayne with "2008 Cooking Class Students" in the kitchen at Grits Café. (Chef Wayne on R, Dennis Lewis facing Kristi Lewis, unseen Becky Cawthon, then Chris Cawthon, Bess Stone & John Stone, background Tom Sloope and Pegi Vaughn and Tommy Vaughn.
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Back to camera Angela, R- Chris, Dennis (blue shirt- who is an excellent baker), John and Bess, and Chef Wayne looking on who is the 'real expert'.
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Terri and Wayne started the evening by offering a white wine and then we gathered in the kitchen to get a rarefied glimpse into the art of being a Chef.
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Wayne and Terri do an amazing job of entertaining while the food preparation is explained...they field questions with utmost patience and plenty of humor.
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The main/third course isalso served at the table and this is when Terri and Wayne get to relax and socialize with everyone.

Wayne Wetendorf, the chef and owner of Grits Cafe in Forsyth, is from Ontario and Terri Wetendorf, his wife and partner, is from Nova Scotia.
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"We wanted to move around," Wayne said.
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After Terri finished nursing school, Wayne was hired by a large hotel chain.
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"We wanted to go to the Caribbean, but I was offered a position in Calgary instead," Wayne remembered with chagrin.
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Terri was hired by a hospital in Dallas, and Wayne was able to arrange a transfer with his company to allow them to relocate to the United States.
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"When we left in 1990, we told our families that we'd only be gone for a couple of years," Wayne said with a laugh.

Wanderlust hit them again and they moved to Oklahoma, then Georgia.Wayne was going to work in Atlanta and Terri had a job in Macon.
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Even though Wayne eventually accepted a position as the chef at Idle Hour Country Club in Macon, they decided to stay where they were.

Courtesy of Exec. Chef Wayne Wetendorf

Wayne Wetendorf, chef-owner of Grits Café, graduated from the Culinary Arts program at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada in 1984.Wayne had always dreamed of having his own place, and for years he and his wife Terri collected ideas and fantasized about being restaurateurs together.
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Terri, Wayne and the entire Grits Café team understand the connection between a region, its history, its people and its food.

Wetendorf, claims this to be one of the secrets of his success.

Originally from a small town in Western Ontario, Canada, Chef Wetendorf received his culinary training at George Brown College in Toronto.He worked coast to coast in Canada, at various restaurants, gaining a wide array of experience and knowledge.He then moved to Texas, when a job opportunity as a registered nurse was made available to his wife, Terri.While in Dallas, he worked for the Doubletree Hotel as executive chef.Eventually his wife's work brought them to the Central Georgia area, where they decided to try small town living in Forsyth.Wetendorf was the executive chef at Idle Hour Country Club for a year before the former Left Banque restaurant location on West Johnson Street became available.He then decided to pursue his true dream of owning his own restaurant with his wife, which has proven to be a smashing success.

Upon entering Grits Café, we were immediately drawn to its comfortable surroundings.
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Chef Wetendorf proved that it can indeed be done with a unique combination of cheesy asiago grits, fried, and served with a tomato, basil cream.
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Once again Wetendorf didn't fail to add some pizazz to the traditional, with his special take on pie.We were treated to a culinary masterpiece made of caramelized bananas in a pastry shell ined with banana mousse.This divine dessert was garnished with edible flowers, raspberry sauce and a side of pecan brittle completed the presentation.This extravaganza comes as little surprise considering that Wetendorf says that he, "tries to meet customer needs, before they anticipate them," and indeed he does with his careful attention to detail.From appetizer to dessert, he exceeded all of our expectations with his flair for transforming the tired into the new and exciting!
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This delicious dessert from Chef Wetendorf of the Grits Cafe has a decadent chocolate