Coleman Griffin

The Climb

Training at the Culinary Institute of America gave Griffin a formal base built around rigor, repetition, and consistency. That kind of schooling does not just teach technique; it sets the standard for how a kitchen is approached, corrected, and held. From there, the work moved through San Francisco and then Tokyo, with each kitchen asking for a different tempo and a sharper ear for the room.

Today

Since 2021, Griffin has led SOWER in Shiga, Japan, as Head Chef. The role followed earlier steps in Nagahama, including sous-chef work and the first chef role there. In that progression, the kitchen reads as a place where experience is accumulated in stages, then carried into leadership with the same discipline that built it. Griffin describes his philosophy through omotenashi: "Omotenashi is an opportunity to experience something special." For a chef whose work moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco, then Tokyo and Shiga, that idea sits at the center of the practice. It puts hospitality inside the act of cooking, not outside it.

In Their Words “Working with Chef Thomas Frebel exposed me to a new and unique way of cooking, and I am very thankful for the time I spent there.”

Recognition

The roles Griffin earned are the clearest measure of recognition: sous chef at benu, sous chef at INUA in 2019, chef at SOWER in Nagahama in 2021, and Head Chef there since 2021. Taken together, they trace a progression built on trust, with each appointment extending his range without changing the underlying standard. The Culinary Institute of America remains the formal root of that standard. California provided early grounding, Tokyo added another level of precision, and Shiga gave the work a setting where omotenashi could be practiced daily rather than discussed in theory.