The ‘Top Chef’ finalist details her journey as chef de cuisine at the downtown restaurant; her experience on the popular reality competition TV series; and launching her own hospitality business
By Renee Ambroso | Photography by John Michael Simpson
She didn’t trust the Instagram message at first – it had to be fake. Someone claiming to be a casting producer for “Top Chef”? No way.
“My first reaction was, ‘How rude,'” Savannah Miller recalls. “Because that was my dream. You can joke about everything else, but I wish you wouldn’t joke about that.
“But I was wrong.” Her skepticism turned to trepidation, then excitement. Savannah competed in season 21 of the show, which aired in spring 2024, finishing as a top-three finalist and winning $38,000.
She relied on the inner confidence and self-determination she’d cultivated since landing her first kitchen job at 16. The restaurant’s daily rhythm immediately hooked her. “I was addicted to the idea of running a service, going home, trying to figure out every way that you can make it better and coming back the next day,” she says.
Savannah also found that back-of-the-house roles mimicked elements of her primary interests as a young person: theater and sports. “I could never combine [the two],” she says. “But in the kitchen, I could do things that were artistic that also felt very physical.” This passion led the Southern Pines native to attend the New England Culinary Institute. After graduating, Savannah spent four years working in Boston before relocating to Durham in 2017, taking up the role of pastry chef at the now-shuttered Piedmont Restaurant.
About a year later, she was standing in an active construction site on Orange Street with chef and restaurateur Michael Lee, learning about his vision for the tempura restaurant that was taking shape around them. The cuisine and even the scope of the eatery – which seats only 30 – was a new arena for Savannah. She jumped in with both feet.
“We had days when nobody would come in,” she says. “There were nights it was hard to get people to buy into the idea. Then there were times we got [The News & Observer’s] Restaurant of the Year and [on] Bon Appétit’s top 50 [new restaurants list].”
Savannah thrived at M Tempura over the following 6½ years. It’s also where she met her now-fiance, Justin Nye, who worked as the restaurant’s general manager.
After “Top Chef,” Savannah discovered new opportunities. “It opens doors,” she says. The experience was a catalyst that prompted Savannah and Justin – now a farmer – to launch Savvy Hospitality in 2024.
“We are doing private dinners, and it honestly started because of the show,” she says. “I met people who were curious about how they can have a more intimate dining experience [with me] or have us come cook for an event or even in their home.” Savannah sees the venture expanding into a dining concept that’s fully their own. “Our end goal is to have a brick-and-mortar,” she says.
Savannah also resumed her role as chef de cuisine at M Tempura, where she continues to enjoy working jointly with Michael. “He’s still my mentor … and I can bounce ideas off him,” but now their relationship feels more collaborative, she says.
The two put their heads together to shape the restaurant’s first brunch menu, which debuted in spring 2024 and features dishes like an omelette with caramelized leeks, maitake mushrooms and masago (a type of fish roe) a la carte, a departure from the restaurant’s traditional kaiseki and omakase menus that are served Tuesday through Saturday evenings.
M Tempura’s open kitchen adds fuel to her fire. Her hands dice, fry, stir and plate without missing a beat as she engages in conversation with patrons seated across the counter. “It energizes me as much as it takes preparation and energy,” she says.
Much of the daily work revolves around prepping fresh ingredients. “I think that some people might find it to be repetitive, but I find it to be meditative,” Savannah says. There’s a certain calmness she enjoys in meticulously cleaning vegetables and fish, carefully readying each element to be combined into a final polished plate.
“The thing I really appreciate about this place is that consistency that I can rely on, because you already know that craziness is going to happen,” Savannah says. “It’s kind of fun to deal with it while you’re peacefully peeling lotus root and cleaning mushrooms. And then 5 o’clock hits, and the restaurant fills up, and everyone’s looking at you.”
