After nearly 30 years of being a chef, Allen Gray has decided to hang up his apron. He actually never intended to become a chef; it sort of just happened, but then he fell in love with cooking. The rest is history.
In his 30s, a young Allen was looking for job and heard about an opening at the then-new Winn-Dixie in St. Elmo, the current location of Food City. He started working in the wok kitchen and quickly learned to make delicious Chinese food. Soon, he advanced to the deli where he cooked for nearly seven years before going to work at the Fairyland Club under then-chef Virginia Cofer.
The late Gene Williams, who owned the Mountain Market in the Fairyland shopping center, hired Allen, who offered customers a hot meal bar consisting of the classic meat-and-three five days a week. Allen worked there for seven years, until the market burned down in 2007…