In addition to his restaurant work, Keith was a semi finalist on Fox’s TV cooking show “Hell’s Kitchen”. His claim to fame was telling Chef Gordon Ramsey what he really thought of him after he got the boot. Keith says “Without a doubt, I cooked much better than the other contestants. It was a great learning experience both from the teachings of Chef Ramsey and seeing first hand the in’s and out’s of Hollywood. It was a TV show though.”

Keith Greene was born in Southampton, March 30, 1977. He grew up living upstairs from his family’s restaurant “BK’s Southampton Restaurant and Saloon” which was in his family since 1912. His family sold the restaurant and today it is called “Savannah’s Restaurant” in Southampton. This is where Keith first got his taste for the restaurant business. It was a Mexican restaurant that his mom ran the restaurant downstairs and used to call up when they were busy. “Keith put your bus-boy clothes on or get your dishwashing clothes on, the restaurant is busy”. He would then run downstairs and help out. So, by the time he was 13, Keith was doing dishes and prepping in the summer. By age 14 Keith was already working the line. He loved the action, sending out the food, creating new things to make and just learning how a kitchen worked. After the restaurant was sold Keith started working at the local fish market. As a member of the catering staff he learned the catering aspect of the food service industry and while in the market he learned the basics in fish butchery and proper fish handling.

After a couple years at the market, Keith moved on to “Canyon Road”, a Southwestern themed restaurant. Having a background in southwestern cuisine, he excelled at his station and moved up the line quickly and past the seasoned veterans. After a year or so, the restaurant closed and it was time to move on once more. Next, Keith worked at the sister restaurant of Canyon Road, “Barristers”, in Southampton. He was the only cook to move to “Barristers” where he worked for five years. It was there that Keith worked his way up the line and eventually ran the night shift. He created all specials and soups and assisted the chef with ordering and product control. It was this time at “Barristers” that allowed Keith to develop his creative side; he was now becoming a chef.

During the off-season at “Barristers”, Keith worked winters in the Caribbean at a few different restaurants. His time was split between “Off the Hook”, a fine dining seafood restaurant, and “The Blue Moon Café”, also a fine dining restaurant. It was in the Caribbean that he learned the Caribbean style of cooking that he truly loves and continues to use today in his specials, no matter the restaurant theme. Upon his return from the Caribbean, Keith started at “75 Main” in Southampton where he worked as the Sous Chef for two seasons. This time, during the off-season, Keith spent his time in Key West. It was there that he worked at the “Catch Café”, a small fine dining restaurant seating only 32 people. As the Sous Chef, the food was easy to control and everything came out so perfect. He loved it. He returned back to “75 Main” for its final season where he worked until it closed after the New Year.

Keith then moved on to Miami for the rest of the winter. There he did some light catering until he was offered the Sous Chef position at “Jean-Luc East” in East Hampton. This restaurant was, and still is, a monster. It seats 270 people and they pumped out tons of food while still maintaining the highest quality. As Keith excelled as the Sous Chef at “Jean-Luc East”, he was offered to take over the kitchen at “JLX” after only 6 months as executive Chef. At “JLX”, he has revamped the menu and created a new loyal client base.