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’s next venture would be a partnership with The 50/Fifty Group to open up his dream live fire restaurant, Kindling in Willis Tower. The anticipated opening is February 2022. Chef Sawyer has a thriving television as a celebrity chef and was most recently on the Premier Episode of Bobby Flay’s Triple Threat on Food Network. He has been on many shows including The Best Thing I Ever Ate, CBS The Dish, The Chef, CNBC Clevelad Hustles, Chopped, Top Chef, and more. Chef Sawyer is also an acclaimed cookbook author with Noodlekids Cookbook, a best selling childrens 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.