Jonathon Sawyer
An old world German chef was the best thing to happen to Jonathon Sawyer. Back in the early 2000’s Sawyer found himself in engineering school staring at an auto-cad program on a computer screen every day and cooking in a local Dayton Ohio restaurant every night. The Chef, staunch in his stubborn ways one day came to Sawyer and said in his thick German accent “you, you are good at cooking.” Surprised & enamored with praise coming from his surly German boss he realized engineering school wasn’t for him and promptly dropped out to attend to culinary school. He would find his love in the kitchen. Not an uncommon occurrence however the years that followed would be.
Sawyer would go on to work for Chef Charlie Palmer in New York City before opening a Parea in NYC & Lolita in Ohio for Michael Symon. After his son Catcher was born he headed home to Cleveland where he went on to build a small empire of restaurants including The Greenhouse Tavern, Noodlecat, & Trentina, multiple stadium ventures, as well as a probiotic vinegar business. In 2010 Chef Sawyer won the Food & Wine “Best New Chef” award and in 2015 he won the James Beard Foundation Award Best Chef: Great Lakes. In 2020, Jonathon opened Adorn Bar & Restaurant in Chicago, IL to much acclaim and was included in the 2021 Michelin Guidebook. Jonathon opened his dream live fire restaurant, Kindling, in Chicago in 2022 in partnership with The 50/Fifty Group.
Chef Sawyer has a thriving television career as a celebrity chef and has appeared on the Food Network shows Bobby Flay’s Triple Threat, Guy’s Grocery Games, Tournament of Champions, and Chopped. He has been on many other network shows including CBS The Dish, The Chef, CNBC Cleveland Hustles, Top Chef, and more. Chef Sawyer is also an acclaimed cookbook author with Noodlekids Cookbook, a best selling children’s cookbook, and House of Vinegar, a cult classic cookbook amongst home cooks.
When Jonathon is not in the kitchen he is hanging out with his wife of 17 years Amelia, their two kids Catcher & Louisiana, their three dogs Bowie, Clementine Francis Bean, and Brenda Walsh, listening to podcasts, foraging in the woods or practicing hot yoga.