Chris Davies

The Path

Chris Davies’s rise has been traced through a series of sharply defined kitchens, beginning as Head Chef at Blue 13 in Chicago, Illinois (2011), then moving into the role of Sous Chef at Acadia in Chicago, Illinois (from 2012). Those early years established the cadence of his career: exacting rooms, demanding standards, and the daily repetition that turns instinct into craft. From there, Chris stepped into Executive Chef positions at Homestead on the Roof in Chicago, Illinois and Steadfast at the Gray in Chicago, Illinois, before heading to Texas as Head in Houston, Texas (from 2018). Today, Chris is chef of March (since 2025).

The Work Today

At Uchi in Houston, the role of Chef de Cuisine put Davies in a kitchen where detail and finesse were central requirements, not finishing touches. His specialty there was Teochew fishball noodles, a dish that points to delicacy, balance, and measured execution rather than excess. The same approach shows up in the way he talks about ingredients: “One of my passions is working with small farms and very seasonal produce.” In trade terms, that reads as a commitment to letting the product set the pace.

Signature

Chris's signature dishes include risi e bisi, Portland Crab Tart, duck Tom Yum, tomato Thai chili, and duck confit with lemongrass. Taken together, they show a cook working across a broad register without losing control of the frame. The common thread is not uniformity but precision: layered flavor, contrast, and enough restraint to let each element hold its place.

In Their Words “One of my passions is working with small farms and very seasonal produce.” “I started cooking by chance. I was very lucky to have started working from day one with some very talented and driven chefs. It did not take long before I knew that I wanted to dive in to the world of cooking and eventually fine dining.” That account places chance at the start, but the career that followed was built through repetition, standard, and proximity to strong kitchens. Luck may have opened the door; the work that came after gave the path its shape.

Acclaim

The progression from early kitchen roles in Chicago to later executive-chef work and then to Houston is the main measure of Davies’s standing. Along the way, his work has included Homestead on the Roof, Elate, Uchi, and M A R C H. The work now carries both the discipline of those stations and the clarity of a dish where restraint, seasonality, and surprise are the point.