For Larry Epps, executive chef of the Copper Jacket at Governors Gun Club in Kennesaw, Mondays aren’t really a day off so much as a day for unsupervised play. The restaurant closes, the members stay home, and Epps—who’s been steering the menu here since 2017—sneaks back into the kitchen anyway, tinkering with new cuts and recipes nobody’s ordered yet.
“This is the only day I don’t have to worry about our members and guests,” he says. “I can just come play in the kitchen by myself.”
It’s a fitting habit for a chef whose entire philosophy boils down to doing the simple things exceptionally well. Epps came up grilling steaks for family in the backyard before catching the bug professionally at Mick’s at Underground Atlanta, where he met chef and mentor Steven Dudley—the late chef Epps credits with first bringing white-tablecloth dining to Cobb County at Capers and Fish Thyme.
When Epps talks about him, the reverence is palpable. “I hung on to his coattail and learned everything I could,” he says. “I wanted to keep that in Cobb County.”
When Governors Gun Club came calling about building a steakhouse inside a gun range, Epps initially turned it down. A year later, with construction delays behind them, he reconsidered. He’s since spent nearly a decade proving that a private dining room next to a shooting range can hold its own against anything inside the Perimeter.
His food philosophy hasn’t changed since those backyard cookouts: foundation first. “Everybody sells ribeye, everybody sells catfish,” he says. “But are you going to season it right? Cook it right? Present it right?”
It’s the same instinct that earned him recognition at Atlanta’s inaugural RARE Steak Championship, where—intimidated by sharing a stage with chefs like Kevin Rathbun—he stripped his recipe down rather than dressing it up.
“Just cook a great steak and don’t cover it up,” a friend told him beforehand. He listened, and came home with a third-place trophy in the Judges’ Choice category.
So, where does a chef devoted to a “less-is-more” philosophy eat when he’s the one being served? Epps keeps his list short and loyal:
Kevin Rathbun Steak (Buckhead): A professional nod to a chef he respects, and proof he hasn’t lost a taste for ribeye even on his day off.
Storico Fresco (Buckhead): His go-to for Italian. It’s the kind of “tried and true” spot he returns to instead of constantly chasing something new. “My time is valuable,” he says. “I know the quality is going to be there.”
Fish Thyme and Capers (Acworth/Kennesaw): The restaurants once helmed by his late mentor, and the ones he credits with planting fine dining in Cobb County in the first place.
He’s mourning Agave’s closure, too. He loved the Southwestern menu and the margaritas—a reminder that even a steak-and-foundations guy has range.
Ask Epps about Cobb County’s dining scene, and he doesn’t hedge: he thinks it’s underrated, full stop.
“People come up 75 North and have no idea what’s out here,” he says, pointing to the corridor running from the Battery in Cumberland up to Cartersville as proof. It’s also, not coincidentally, exactly where he’s spent his whole career–-close to home, close to the foundation that got him here, and not particularly interested in changing either.
