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CHEF DU JOUR: Sean Begin, chef/owner of Daily Dish Cafe

Chef Sean Begin poses with a plate of Mixed Greens with Almond Encrusted Goat Cheese Cake, Strawberries, Mangos and Spiced Almonds with Dried Cherry Vinaigrette at Daily Dish in Franklin. (JAE S. LEE / THE TENNESSEAN)

Sean Begin opened the Daily Dish Cafe in Franklin last December with his wife, Jill, but it's hardly his first foray into cooking in the Nashville area.

Having worked at the Bound'ry and most recently as part owner of The Copper Kettle, Begin came to Nashville initially as sous chef at the Hermitage Hotel's Capitol Grille under Chef Willy Thomas, now of Park Cafe and Eastland Cafe.

New England Roots
Begin and Thomas began cooking together at the Sheraton Hotel in Milford, Mass., after Begin finished school at Newberry College in Brookline, Mass. Begin and Thomas both went on to work on Cape Cod and then traveled for about 10 years, cooking along the way, before coming to Nashville.

Meat & three goes global
At the Daily Dish, Begin serves country food, but it's not all of the Southern variety. While in Vail, Colo., Begin perfected homemade pastas and polenta (which he calls Italian grits) at an authentic Italian restaurant. In West Palm Beach, Fla., he studied French cuisine. At the Daily Dish, Begin likes to offer three entrees each day often incorporating the country style of cuisine from his experiences.

Cooking on the fly
When Begin arrives at his restaurant each morning, he often isn't sure what he'll be serving that day. But for Begin, cooking under pressure is nothing new. He once demonstrated his skills at an Iron Chef-like competition at the Nashville Convention Center. Arriving late, he had to park near the Sommet Center and cut through a parade inching its way through downtown. After he schlepped tubs of equipment between the rows of a marching Boy Scout troop, he went on to prepare pistachio and phyllo-wrapped shrimp with honey mustard, a veal chop with mascarpone grits followed by a warm chocolate cake with pear poached in zinfandel ? all in less than two hours.

"Hey dude, you won," Begin remembers hearing a colleague say.

"I didn't expect it."

At home
With an 11-year-old son, Begin said he likes to keep dips such as hummus on hand along with healthy choices such as slices of fruit, grilled chicken and grilled vegetables.

"There's no doubt I like a nice helping of meatloaf every now and then," he said. "I think in moderation that heavy stuff is good. It's good for the soul. Turnip greens and black-eyed peas? I love that stuff."

JENNIFER JUSTUS, STAFF WRITER