A chef who first sharpened his cooking knives in the kitchens at Marathon High School is already making countywide waves with his plates in Key West.
January 2026 marked the opening of Asian restaurant Dragon & Rooster in Key West, taking the place of the former Pho King Awesome noodle bar at the corner of Angela and Duval streets. Its owner Scott Taylor is already rooted in the southernmost city as the owner of Kaya Island Eats since 2011.
The 30-seat modern bistro boasts a menu of pan-Asian cuisine and fusion plates. Flagship dishes include popular staples like pho, fried rice and ramen, but always with a twist and visual pop – from “Rooster Rice” (pineapple fried rice with chicken) to “Dragon Rice” (shrimp and pork belly) and “yin-yang rice” (jasmine white rice and Chinese forbidden black rice formed into the iconic symbol, with fried fish and a Thai herb sauce on top). A special “Dragon Section” loads up the spice for those who want to test their taste buds.
When designing the dishes for the new spot, Taylor told the Weekly, he broke one of his own unwritten rules, hiring MHS graduate Chris Gaskill as his executive chef.
“I’ve never hired an executive chef to work for my company. Chris broke the mold,” Taylor said. “He’s a Florida Keys success story – I was so impressed with this young man that I decided to collaborate with another chef. That can sometimes be a tenuous, stressful experience for both parties, but it’s been phenomenal.
“I’ve opened a lot of restaurants in my 40-year career, and I’ve never had one so smooth and flawless.”
Photos by MANDY MILES/Keys Weekly
Gaskill’s culinary training began in the Pro Start kitchen at Marathon High under Carl “Chef Flavor” Stanton, honored just last month with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Monroe ROSE Awards.
Later graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Gaskill continued work with Stanton throughout the Keys for private catering and events, along with multiple Marathon restaurants and Hawks Cay Resort, before zeroing in on the Key West culinary scene.
Meeting Taylor at Kaya Island Eats while he worked food tours in Key West, Gaskill moved to the southernmost city, working as a bartender at Kaya while renovating Dragon and Rooster.
“The landlord approached us and said, ‘Would you be interested in opening a restaurant here?’ Well, that was music to my ears, because I love Asian food and grew up in Hawaii,” Taylor said. “They don’t necessarily eat Hawaiian food, they mainly eat a mixture of Asian food and Polynesian flavors. So I was immersed in Asian food, and Chris had a passion for it.”
“I just asked if he wanted me to go there as a cook, and it ended up with me being executive chef,” Gaskill said. “I love Asian cuisine – Korean food is 100% my favorite – and whenever I was in New York City, my brothers went to Korea Town, Flushing in Queens – some of the best Asian food in America is up in New York. There was no place like that down here.”
Even as executive chef, he’s hands-on in every aspect of the kitchen, from prep work to serving as a line cook when needed. And he insists every bit of the menu is made in-house.
“Really nothing I buy is pre-made,” Gaskill said. “Working with Chef (Stanton), I learned not to accept mediocrity. ‘Why are you doing something unless you’re doing it the best?’ That’s why I insist everything is made here.”
The rest of the county is already starting to notice.
While Gaskill attended the ROSE awards ceremony at Hawks Cay Resort last month to support Stanton, he was up for an honor of his own, nominated as one of the top chefs in the Florida Keys for 2025-26.
“I didn’t even know about it, and the payroll lady here at Kaya told me I was nominated,” he said. “That was a surprise, and I was happy to hear about it.”
“I can’t say enough great things about working with Chris,” Taylor said. “I’ve graduated to the ‘older guy,’ and it’s really great to see some of the young guns coming up through the business.
“There’s a saying that too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup, but that’s not the case here,” he added. “Chris has been given the room to breathe creatively. I have ideas, he has ideas, usually those are in sync, and we’re able to put out a really beautiful product.”
Find the restaurant at 626 Duval St., open from 3 to 10 p.m. seven days a week. For more information, visit dragonrooster.com or call 305-395-1365 for takeout and delivery.
