Partners
John Chiakulas has recently been named the Corporate Executive Chef of
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc® (LEYE). Chiakulas joined LEYE in
1981 working both in the pastry kitchen and as a fish butcher at
Ambria. For more than 20 years, Chiakulas worked at more than a dozen
LEYE restaurants ranging from Avanzare, The Pump Room and Scoozi! to
the most recent, Wildfire Chicago. Made Corporate Executive Chef in
August 2002, Chiakulas works in the LEYE corporate office and
restaurant kitchen to manage the development, creation and maintenance
of all menus and recipes as well as to oversee every aspect of the
restaurant's operations including the preparation, presentation and
service of the actual menu items.
Rich Melman, Founder and CEO of LEYE is delighted to have Chiakulas join the Corporate offices as the Executive Chef. "In his new capacity he can use his versatile talents to work with me directly on special projects and developing new concepts," say Melman.
Even as a young entrepreneur, Chiakulas was destined to be in the restaurant business. At the age of 10 his mother remembers when he opened his first ‘restaurant' serving cheese sandwiches and hotdogs to his brothers starting at ten cents. A native of Chicago, Chiakulas began his professional career bussing tables at My Π Pizzeria while in high school and received his first cooking job at Gordons restaurant in Chicago.
With LEYE Chiakulas has worked for an eclectic array of restaurants. After his start at Ambria, in 1982 Chiakulas was on the opening team for Avanzare, a classic Italian restaurant, and served as the saucier until 1984 when he was promoted to sous chef. In 1987 Chiakulas' hardwork paid off when he became the head chef Avanzare. An Italian chef by nature, Chiakulas prides himself on the use of bold flavors and the creation of new soups and sauces. While working at Avanzare, Chiakulas traveled the cities in Italy where he found a new appreciation for authentic Italian cooking. He also was instrumental in creating an assortment of tomato specialties that were essential to creating a whole festival around the delights and tastiness of the tomato, hence TomatoFest! Since Tomatofest was such a smashing success at Avanzare, that when the restaurant closed Chiakulas moved to Scoozi! and took it with him.
In 1992 Chiakulas became the Executive Chef at Scoozi! where he continued his Italian creations using simple and fresh ingredients. Always looking to improve and create, Chiakulas believes, "what a canvas is to a painter the onion is to a chef."
In 1994 Chiakulas became a corporate chef and had the opportunity to work at many Lettuce restaurants often filling in as interim chef. These restaurants included Tru, Brasserie Jo and Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba to name a few. Chiakulas considers his time in 1997 as executive chef for the Pump Room to be among the highlights of his career. As corporate Executive Chef Chiakulas's job will be to assist Rich Melman with menu development and the creation of new recipes.
With a love for chocolate and a nickname to follow, Chocco-latte (pronounced in Spanish) Chiakulas's new passion is the creation of new and exciting pastries. Chiakulas also enjoys teaching cooking classes and working with children.
Chiakulas is married with three wonderful sons and currently resides in one of Chicago's Northwest suburbs. When away from the restaurants, Chiakulas enjoys entertaining at home for friends and family, gardening, softball and golf.
Rich Melman, Founder and CEO of LEYE is delighted to have Chiakulas join the Corporate offices as the Executive Chef. "In his new capacity he can use his versatile talents to work with me directly on special projects and developing new concepts," say Melman.
Even as a young entrepreneur, Chiakulas was destined to be in the restaurant business. At the age of 10 his mother remembers when he opened his first ‘restaurant' serving cheese sandwiches and hotdogs to his brothers starting at ten cents. A native of Chicago, Chiakulas began his professional career bussing tables at My Π Pizzeria while in high school and received his first cooking job at Gordons restaurant in Chicago.
With LEYE Chiakulas has worked for an eclectic array of restaurants. After his start at Ambria, in 1982 Chiakulas was on the opening team for Avanzare, a classic Italian restaurant, and served as the saucier until 1984 when he was promoted to sous chef. In 1987 Chiakulas' hardwork paid off when he became the head chef Avanzare. An Italian chef by nature, Chiakulas prides himself on the use of bold flavors and the creation of new soups and sauces. While working at Avanzare, Chiakulas traveled the cities in Italy where he found a new appreciation for authentic Italian cooking. He also was instrumental in creating an assortment of tomato specialties that were essential to creating a whole festival around the delights and tastiness of the tomato, hence TomatoFest! Since Tomatofest was such a smashing success at Avanzare, that when the restaurant closed Chiakulas moved to Scoozi! and took it with him.
In 1992 Chiakulas became the Executive Chef at Scoozi! where he continued his Italian creations using simple and fresh ingredients. Always looking to improve and create, Chiakulas believes, "what a canvas is to a painter the onion is to a chef."
In 1994 Chiakulas became a corporate chef and had the opportunity to work at many Lettuce restaurants often filling in as interim chef. These restaurants included Tru, Brasserie Jo and Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba to name a few. Chiakulas considers his time in 1997 as executive chef for the Pump Room to be among the highlights of his career. As corporate Executive Chef Chiakulas's job will be to assist Rich Melman with menu development and the creation of new recipes.
With a love for chocolate and a nickname to follow, Chocco-latte (pronounced in Spanish) Chiakulas's new passion is the creation of new and exciting pastries. Chiakulas also enjoys teaching cooking classes and working with children.
Chiakulas is married with three wonderful sons and currently resides in one of Chicago's Northwest suburbs. When away from the restaurants, Chiakulas enjoys entertaining at home for friends and family, gardening, softball and golf.