Chef
Collin Hilton
- Discipline
- Chef
Portrait of Collin Hilton
i. Biography
Collin Hilton’s work sits in the physical register of the kitchen: ingredient-led, seasonal, and grounded in the act of handling food. As Corporate Chef de cuisine for Cunningham Restaurant Group in Indianapolis, United States, he brings a practical, tactile approach to a role that still reads the room through produce, texture, and timing. His own description is plainspoken and useful: the work matters most when it can be smelled, tasted, trimmed, and shaped by hand.
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Coming Up
At ABV in San Francisco, California, USA, the pace of service was part of the training. Until 2015, Collin Hilton worked there as sous chef, a position that demanded speed, consistency, and close attention to the line from prep through the final pass. In a kitchen like that, craft is built under pressure: timing, repetition, and precision become habits rather than ideals. From 2015, Hilton remained at ABV in San Francisco, California, USA as chef, moving into a more senior role within the same exacting environment.
The progression kept the work centered on the day’s product and the standards of a kitchen where seasonal cooking has to be immediate, disciplined, and clear on the plate.
Where They Are Now
At Cunningham Restaurant Group, Hilton’s Corporate Chef de cuisine role extends that same hands-on sensibility across a wider set of kitchens in Indianapolis, United States. The scale changes, but the method does not: ingredient-first cooking, physical engagement with the work, and a focus on what the season actually gives the kitchen to use.
In Their Words “I like doing things with my hands, and tangible things that I can smell and taste, instead of sitting behind a computer, crunching numbers or some sort of abstract analytics.” “I can’t pick a cuisine outside of seasonality and whatever kind of produce is growing at the time.”
FAQ
Asked of Collin
What is Collin Hilton's current role?
As of 2026, Collin Hilton is Corporate Chef de cuisine.
Where did Collin Hilton work before?
Collin Hilton's earlier career included ABV and ABV.
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The Sunday email
Read about chefs like Collin Hilton in the Sunday email.
Every Sunday we send a lead story and up to four more about the chefs, winemakers, sommeliers and hoteliers behind the restaurants, bars, wineries and hotels we cover.
Recent stories
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