About

After several years working my way through a variety of cuisines and two Michelin star restaurants from Chicago to Copenhagen, I have returned to my roots in St. Louis, excited to bring my expertise to your table.

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. As a boy, I always enjoyed helping my mom and grandmother in the kitchen. As I grew older, sleepovers found me destroying the kitchen cooking up feasts for my friends at 3 am (sorry, Mom). At 15, my first job was at the local pizza shop, Cecil Whittakers, and I attended South Tech High School to study Culinary Arts.

After high school, I graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in New York. I interned at St. Louis restaurant Niche; training underneath my first mentor, Nate Hereford. I worked in various kitchens in St. Louis before accepting a front-of-house position at a tasting menu restaurant in Atlanta called Restaurant Eugene. I worked at several of their sister restaurants as well, learning about wine, cocktails, and table-side service.

My next adventure took me to Denver, where I worked at Uchi, an upscale sushi restaurant. I was intrigued by the flavors of Japanese cuisine, and my love for seafood commenced. I then went on to work for one of my most important mentors, Kenta Kamo, a Japanese chef who had just opened his own Japanese restaurant in Denver.

After spending some time in the Denver area, Michelin-starred kitchens piqued my curiosity, so I traveled to Denmark to work at Jordnaer, which at the time had received the award for the 38th best restaurant in the world and had achieved a two-star Michelin rating. I spent the full three months that my tourist visa would allow in Copenhagen before accepting a job in Chicago at the two-star Michelin restaurant Oriole.

At Oriole, I worked my way through the stations and met many great colleagues. I finished my time in Chicago working at Warlord, and while I was there, Esquire magazine named it the best new restaurant in the USA. This was one of the most challenging jobs I have ever had, as we changed the menu daily, depending on what was ready in the dry-ager, and what produce local farms had available.

Seeing all the different cultures and cuisines in St. Louis, New York, Denver, Atlanta, Copenhagen, and Chicago have shaped me as a cook and have led me to return to my roots in St. Louis. I am looking forward to what the next chapter of my career will bring as a private chef.