Chef Ski

“Where There’s Smoke, There’s Ski: A Backyard Interview with ATL’s Favorite Neighborhood Chef”

By Candace Goodman | Food & Culture | April 2025

ATLANTA, GA – There’s a certain kind of magic that happens when food, family, and fire come together—and if you’re lucky enough to find yourself on the Southside of Atlanta on a Wednesday or Sunday, you just might witness that magic for yourself in the backyard of Alan “Chef Ski” Dix.

Known across the city for his BBQ Sundays, Taco Tuesdays, and Pasta Wednesdays—Chef Ski is what happens when you mix culinary instinct, community love, and a whole lot of flavor. His food isn’t just good—it’s felt. Every bite, a memory. Every plate, a reunion.

“I cook how I talk—straight from the soul, no filter, all love,” he told me as he stirred a pan of creamy Alfredo so good it could make you call your ex and apologize.

Candace Goodman: Tell me how this journey started.

Chef Ski:  
“Grew up splitting summers in Indiana with all my cousins—like 10 of us in one house. If you got hungry? You figured it out. I started with egg and cheese sandwiches, burnt a lot of them at first, but I kept going. Food became my peace, my pride. Now it’s my purpose.”

Candace: And today, you’re running the hottest home kitchen in Atlanta?

Chef Ski:  
“I wouldn’t say all that,” he says with a grin, “but yeah—folks know what time it is when they pull up.”

That’s no exaggeration. Every day of the week, Chef Ski brings a new flavor to the streets:

• Taco Tuesday: tacos and nachos dripping with flavor.
• Pasta Wednesday: Creamy Alfredo—sometimes with chicken, sometimes with seafood, always a problem.
• BBQ Sunday: The day legends are made. Wings, ribs, mac, greens, cornbread. And don’t forget the broccoli casserole.

And the best part? It’s all served with the kind of hospitality that makes you feel like family.

Candace: What makes your kitchen different?

Chef Ski:  
“Ain’t no reservations here. You just pull up. Could be a Rolls Royce, could be a bike—you getting the same plate and the same love. This ain’t no restaurant. This my house. This my heart.”

As we spoke, friends and customers drifted in—some for the game, some for the food, all for the vibe. Cold drinks in hand, music thumping from a speaker in the corner, and Ski in the center of it all—flipping meat with one hand, hugging folks with the other.

Candace: And BBQ Sunday?

Chef Ski:  
“That’s church. That’s therapy. That’s where folks come to laugh, cry, eat, whatever they need. We watch football, we talk life, we eat good. Ain’t nobody leave here empty.”

There’s no pretense with Chef Ski. No chef coat. No food network crew. Just a man with a dream, a flame, and a whole city rooting for him. You won’t find his food in a five-star restaurant—because it’s being served hot out the backyard, where it was always meant to be.

If you haven’t followed him yet, go do that now: @maziski Trust me—his Alfredo alone is worth the trip.

—Candace Goodman, The Good Blog 
“Where the food heals, and the people feel it.”