About Neal Williams
Neal is the creator and main author of The Flat Top King, focused on griddle recipes and griddle cooking tips. With an extensive culinary background and over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Neal is able to teach beginners how to cook in an easy to understand and entertaining way.
From Home Cook to Executive Chef…
Neal started his culinary journey cooking beans and greens with his Granny at the young age of 8, when he could first reach the stove. He completed an internship in a fine dining restaurant when he was 16, which quickly led to a passion for creating delicious dishes with bold flavors.
He joined the US Navy out of high school, and gained experience in managing a kitchen staff of 30 cooks, with the responsibility of feeding 3,000 sailors 3 meals a day. During his time in Naval kitchens, he perfected his griddle cooking skills (have you ever tried to make eggs to order for thousands of hungry servicemen?!) along with other foodservice and culinary skills like food inventory management, baking, menu planning, and more.
Neal quickly rose through the ranks as a US Navy cook, eventually becoming an Officer’s Chef and visiting both the White House and Camp David in his culinary pursuits.
After his US Navy service, a cross-country move led him to the kitchen of Wyoming’s oldest bar, where he held the position of Executive Chef and fell in love with open flame cooking.
During his three years as the head chef at the steakhouse, Neal expertly grilled thousands of steaks for hungry diners. He also developed creative side dishes and delicious sauces and dressings that paired perfectly with the flame-grilled meats.
Now back home in Tennessee, Neal loves the laid back feel of his own kitchen, and though he’s technically a “home cook” now… he’s the best darn home cook you’ll ever meet.
If you can eat it, he can cook it… from Japanese Hibachi to Mexican to Italian and everything in between.
Teaching You to Make Delicious Meals at Home
Although he loves working in restaurant kitchens, Neal’s real passion is sharing his love of food by teaching others to cook restaurant quality meals at home. Because he has an extensive culinary background that includes everything from fast food restaurants to military kitchens to fine-dining establishments, Neal is able to teach in a way that is both entertaining and easy to understand.
He offers tons of useful “tips and tricks” in his recipe posts and his griddle cooking YouTube videos, making it easy for beginner cooks to replicate his dishes with great success.
In fact, Neal gets messages like these from viewers on a weekly basis:
