Bridget Batson

The Path

Formal training at the Institute of Culinary Education sits at the base of Bridget Batson’s career, but the work itself has been built through repetition, service, and movement across Bay Area kitchens. At Hawthorne Lane, where she was Executive Chef from 1999 to 2009, the scale was long enough to mark out discipline. Claude Lane followed, with Batson as Executive Chef from 2010 to 2013, then Munchery, where she served first as Principal Chef from 2013 to 2015 and then as Culinary Director from 2015 to 2016. The progression shows a chef moving beyond station work into broader operational control without losing contact with the kitchen. The next roles widen the frame further. At SupperBell, Bridget Batson was Chief Culinary Officer from 2016 to 2018, then became California Bound Chef at Consulting Chef from 2018 to 2021. In parallel, she held the title of Culinary Director at Elaine Bell Catering from 2019 to 2021, then served as Culinary Director at Freelance from 2021 to 2022, before taking on the role of Executive Sous Chef at Ginger and Baker from 2021 to 2023. The overlap in those years reflects a modern kitchen career built across multiple posts, with leadership extending across settings rather than staying in one lane. Since 2023, Bridget Batson has been Executive Chef at Menlo Country Club in Redwood City, California, while also serving as chef of Gim Nguan Noodle. The pairing places club dining alongside a more specialized outlet, and it shows the range that has defined her work across different formats and expectations.

The Work Today

At Menlo Country Club, the Executive Chef role asks for coordination, consistency, and a steady hand, and Bridget Batson arrived there with years of management already behind her. Her record runs from Hawthorne Lane and Claude Lane through Munchery, SupperBell, Consulting Chef, Elaine Bell Catering, Freelance, and Ginger and Baker, with each post adding another layer of kitchen leadership. The through-line is not a single format or style, but the ability to carry responsibility across different rooms and different scales.

Signature

Uni pasta is listed among Bridget Batson’s signature dishes. The dish points to a palate that works with richness while keeping the composition controlled, which fits a career built on range rather than excess.

In Their Words “To me it means a lot of people coming together really working hard to move forward.”