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Kyle Yeomans: Seafood to a Science
by Cliff Johnson

If he hadn’t become a trained chef at the Atlanta Art Institute, he might have been handling seafood as a marine biologist—either way he’s a master with crustaceans. It’s twelve o’clock on a Tuesday and Kyle Yeomans, the 29-year-old Macon-born Executive Chef at The Treehouse, is prepping for Lobster Night at this now legendary neighborhood hangout. Prep time makes the Treehouse look and feel laid back, and it works. Yet this dive bar is no belly flop. Even more care infuses the food.

Kyle, a Certified Executive Chef by way of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), has dreamed up three machinations of late, three representations of lobsters gone wild without their shells! No spiny, trendy substitutes or Dublin prawns here. These orange boys from Maine are dressed up with one place to go. They won’t see Wednesday. With a practiced touch you’d find in a Paris charcuterie, Yeomans filets and stuffs lobsters for guests three ways. First, you can enjoy it plain and steamed, with new potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, drawn butter and a house salad. If a more European approach is your speed, Yeomans says, “Try the stuffed lobster with lump Crabmeat Imperial stuffing, finished in the oven.” If you don’t want to play utensil hockey when evicting these fellas from their shells, consider the third amazing presentation—lobster pasta with fresh peas, tomatoes and roasted garlic cream over linguini. Lobsters are like SUVS, once one person gets one, everybody has to have one, so get there early for a patio seat. Yeomans’ culinary repertoire is deep, making you want to order enough to lie down and beg to refinance your check.

But Yeomans isn’t a prototypical, barking, gruff kitchen haunt; he’s quietly confidential, rooted in technique, and all business in execution. He’s also not afraid to let his passions meander across boundaries of taste. He started out years ago at a Macon country club “for fun,” he migrated slowly from banquets into the kitchen, which drew him. “There’s a lot of cool stuff and I just wanted to try it,” says Yeomans. He went from apprenticeship to full chef in the fine dining climate. He decided to go to chef’s school, namely the Art Institute of Atlanta. The Treehouse, where he had a few friends, was his first cooking gig right out of school. He’s moved up the ladder ever since.

The menu is designed entirely by Kyle. “I take ideas, I research, I throw them on the menu and see how they go over, switching around seasonally,” he says. Kyle is soft spoken, but his kitchen philosophy brings the plates alive. Flat iron steak, coated in coffee grounds and spices is one of his favorites, showing sizzling earthy flare. “It takes a fresh Chimy Chury sauce. That’s close to an Argentinean salsa, like pesto.” Yeomans drizzles flavors from all over the world onto Treehouse plates. Though he hates the word fusion, echoing the sentiments of many of his Atlanta colleagues.

This article polled the crowd and burgers are the best here. “We sell a lot of yellow fin tuna also,” says Yoemans, “and a new grouper dish is flying out of here. We do a great hanger steak—a French cut also called beef onglet—with French fried potatoes and roasted garlic. The flat iron steak is a newer cut, coming from the shoulder, like the beef chuck, really tender and versatile, extremely lean, less expensive than tenderloin—tenderloin’s been played out a lot.” The crab and artichoke dip are also great frequent flyers over tables.

Just about everything is from scratch, the way Yoemans likes it. Dressings, sauces, fresh marinara, primary pasta sauces, all come from his hand. Ponzu Citrus, a citrus soy sauce, and Sesame Ginger are two favorite hand-whisked salad dressings. As for local purveyors, Yeoman says, “A lady in Blairsville grinds my grits for me, stone-ground same day. We do a lot of grits, about 20 pounds in a week.” Grits basically rock the Brunch. With catfish, Yoemans serves cheddar cheese grits, in true sub-Mason-Dixon line lowboy fashion, with white stone ground cornmeal grits standing up on their own like a politician’s stuffed shirt. All this from a subterranean kitchen. But southern dishes are full of hidden hermits.

“Its always the special requests that still get Yoemans. “People sometimes don’t even look at the menu. We’re neighborhood based; people feel like they can make up stuff sometimes, catching me in the right frame of mind; sauce on side, mixing and matching dishes, you know the drill.” Yoemans’ kitchen cranks over 100 covers a night.

Yoemans’ kitchen affinity stems from the osmotic effect of growing up near the water. “I love the ocean, I love seafood: I would probably be a marine biologist. We do a great mussels dish here with sambuca cream.” At this point Yoemans laughs at the irony of how his interests turned from science to sauce! He is influenced by the owner, who he credits with inspiring him to pursue more in the field. He may want to own one day, but for now, he’s content to stay behind the kitchen window. “We don’t get to people watch, but occasionally that stray drunk wanders into the kitchen.” Kyle won’t put him to work; he’d hate to see a knife in his hand. But the cooks do happily point him back in the direction of the ladies room just to see what happens. You can see what happens each night at Treehouse and enjoy Yoemans’ humble creations designed to delight the palate and calm your appetite.

Chef Kyle Yeomans prepares lobster every which way.