Turner was the food and beverage manager at East Lake Golf Club prior to opening Muss & Turner’s in February of 2005.
He was the 2015 Board Chair of the Georgia Restaurant Association. He and his partners were recognized by the GRA as Restaurateurs of the Year in 2011.
In 2014, Turner was named the Business Person of the Year by the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Turner is a founder and has served on the board of the Giving Kitchen since 2013.
In 2015, the Unsukay partners were awarded the National Restaurant Association’s Cornerstone Humanitarian Award for their role in founding the Giving Kitchen.
The Giving Kitchen was named the James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of The Year in 2019.
Originally from Maine, he graduated from the University of Vermont in 1994 and did a term of service with Americorps in Arizona along the border of Mexico. He carpetbagged his way to Atlanta in 1995, looking for a Georgia Peach, a job and year-round golfing weather (in that order). He ultimately found all three and now lives in Smyrna with his wife, Shelley, and two children.
Todd Mussman, or “Muss,” as he’s known, is a CIA-trained chef who worked with Fifth Group Restaurants before opening Muss & Turner’s in 2005.
You might meet someone as knowledgeable about food, but we seriously doubt you’ll ever meet anyone as passionate. From foraging wild edibles, to hunting deer, turkey and quail or breaking down whole hogs and turning them into delectable delights, Todd can do it ALL in the kitchen. His deep knowledge and passion for food are one of his strongest assets.
You’ll know he is originally from Boston as soon as he opens his mouth. Muss is married and lives in Smyrna with his wife, two kids and dog. In his spare time, he loves to spend time on his hunting lease as well as studying, cooking and refining his craft. Todd’s passion for food is not left at work. Muss is a founding board member of the Giving Kitchen and takes an active role every year in executing TEAM HIDI auction lots: whether leading canoe trips in the Okefenokee or executing dinners on Georgia’s barrier islands to raise money for restaurant workers in crises.
Keep in touch with Todd:
Chris Hall is clearly the most rakishly handsome and debonair of the three Unsukay Partners.
His story begins right around the corner from Local Three at the Pizza Hut on Collier Road, where he worked as a teenager. Somehow, the magic smell of pepperoni and yeast lured him in and 30+ years later he is still at it. Either that, or he is just too dense to figure anything else out…. So he threw some pizzas and moved up the proverbial ladder, eventually landing, while in college, at Philadelphia’s famed Lec Bec Fin where he was begrudgingly taught to cook by an angry Frenchman and his minions. It was a kitchen ripe with talent (and he was too dumb to be scared), so he set off to learning and taught himself how to cook. Some folks, including a few dining critics, claim he never learned to cook, but undaunted, he still kept trying.
Hall eventually headed home to Atlanta in search of bourbon and a Southern Belle. He found both and is still in love with both to this day. He landed at Canoe on his return and cut his teeth with Gary Mennie, George McKerrow, Ron San Martin and the gang by the river. It was an amazing time at an incredible restaurant and the most formative of his cooking years; but he always knew he wanted his own place, and if nothing else, to cook what he wanted, however he wanted, whenever he wanted. So after meeting Turner and Muss, a fast friendship formed and they began talking about a partnership. It was a long winding road to eventually get there, but the seed for Local Three was born. Years later, they opened Local Three to a swell of critical and guest acclaim and the rest, as they say, is history.
Hall still cooks (not enough for his liking…) but his main role is the partner in charge of the day-to-day operations of Unsukay. What’s on the menu, who is cooking and serving it, how we’re buying it, along with a multitude of other things. In all honesty, he is just trying to figure it all out. His true passion these days is to help people in much the same way people helped him in his career. He loves to coach and mentor and is still entranced by the machinations of the restaurant business.
Hall participates actively in a number of charities and is a founder and former Vice Chairman of The Giving Kitchen. In 2015, Chris, Ryan and Todd were named Cornerstone Humanitarians by the National Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation for their role in kick starting the Giving Kitchen. In 2019, the Giving Kitchen became the second organization to receive the prestigious James Beard Humanitarian of the Year Award.
He out-kicked his coverage by a long way and has been married to his wife Julie since 2000 (as well as her roller derby alter ego, Polly Atomic, since 2010). They live in Smyrna and when he is not in the restaurants, he is golfing, crashing around the woods, shooting at things, and generally acting the fool. CH loves all kinds of football, round and oblong, and is an avid fan of Rugby ATL as well as being a fractional owner of the team. He never misses an Atlanta United or Arsenal match and will gladly regale you with the delights of gegenpressing and juego de posicion. He likes Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair, The Dude, Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday, Omar Little, a great bottle of wine, a fine cigar, brown whiskey, piña coladas and getting caught in the rain…… But most of all, he is incredibly grateful for the staff, guests, and friends, old and new, who keep the company going.
Susie has been an integral part of what we do for the past several years. She has led Basecamp, while being an important advisor and sounding board for the partners. Previously, Susie was the President of Taco Mac, responsible for an organization of 25 restaurants and she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this role. As Director of Support Services, Susie reports to the partners and is responsible for the long and short term goals and success of Unsukay. She focuses on back office support, finance, legal and strategic planning.
After two years in Florida at the Fort Lauderdale Ritz-Carlton and directing the Miami launch of Antico Foods, long-time Atlanta resident Jimmy Chio returned to our fair city to take the reins as General Manager of Local Three. For more than a decade, Jimmy cut his teeth at some of Atlanta’s most popular dining destinations such as Twist, Shout, Strip, and Noche. Jimmy’s time running Local Three has been marked with quiet and steady leadership, growth of his managers and team, financial success, and a level of professionalism that sets the standard for the company. Jimmy’s role as Director of Restaurant Operations will benefit the progress of all Unsukay restaurants.
Jimbo is a rare “Atlanta native.” He graduated from Westminster, right around the corner from Local Three. From there, he went on to study food science and industrial engineering at Auburn University. He then made his way to The Culinary Institute of America, where he received an associates degree in culinary arts and a bachelors degree in culinary science.
After working in New York and San Francisco, he made his way back to the A, where he began working with a buddy who was starting Snapfinger Farm in Stockbridge. In the first year at the farm, they raised pigs and rabbits, grew almost two acres of vegetables, and started doing some catering. Catering came naturally to him, because it’s something he’s had a strong hand in since his days at Auburn.
Jimbo has been cooking professionally for a decade now. He has a passion for barbecue, learning new things, perfecting his craft, and for educating others on technique and finesse in the kitchen.
As far as hobbies go, he enjoys music. He’s been playing guitar for 15 years now. He’s a brother to three sisters, a welder, and a vinegar fermenter. He also enjoys good beer and PC gaming (when he has the time).
