For a long time Jordan Khan has been an inspiration to me. I first heard his name as a 19-year-old working at Alinea in Chicago where Jordan had worked years before and who had a similar trajectory as I had, working at the French laundry at almost the same age that I was then. At the time Alinea had a near mythological group of chefs that had come from that kitchen - Jordan Kahn, John Shields, Dave Baron, Alex Stupax, Curtis Duffy, Andrew Graves, Andrew Brochu, Jeff Pikus, Greg Baxtrom, and of course Grant Achatz, and there I was. What a wild thing to be in such a kitchen and part of it's lineage.
After a year and a half in that kitchen in pursuit of cutting my teeth in various restaurants to learn more about food and cooking, I made my way to Washington where I worked at the restaurant Willow’s inn before moving to San Francisco to work at the restaurant Saison.
During my time in California, despite the abundance of restaurants around me I would still often drive to LA on the weekends and eat at Jordan’s restaurant Red Medicine, which has since closed and shifted into what are some of our favorite restaurants to visit to this day - Destroyer, Meteora, and Vespertine.
Last year I had the honor to cook a few dishes alongside Jordan at his restaurant Meteora in Los Angeles. We’ve been friends for a few years now and still his vision, tenacity and warmth continue to inspire me. If you had told my younger self that this would be happening he wouldn’t believe it, but he would definitely would be dreaming it.
Thank you chef for having me and for lighting the way for what’s possible. I look forward to cooking together again.
Photos by Stefan Junir
