FULL INTERVIEW WITH CHEF PAUL SMITH

This week at the Leadership Table with Retired Major General Jim Hoyer is a truly inspirational guest. Chef Paul Smith was the 2023 West Virginian of the Year, and most recently, West Virginia’s very first James Beard Award winner (an award that’s like the Oscars of culinary arts, given for excellence in American cuisine).

In his acceptance speech at the award ceremony, Chef Paul started by saying that he’d utter two words that had never before been said on that national stage: West Virginia. Hear more from him about his remarkable journey that led him back to serve his roots in Appalachian hospitality.