Damion Henry

The Climb

At The Langham, Chicago, Damion Henry’s progression was built through repetition, control, and a consistent hand at luxury service. From 2013 to 2018, he worked as Executive Sous Chef at The Langham in Chicago, a five-year run that sharpened his standards inside a kitchen where execution had to stay exact from prep through service. The job called for discipline, but also for the kind of stability that keeps a house language intact day after day. In 2018, Damion Henry moved into the Executive Chef role at The Langham, Chicago, where he has served since. The shift marked continuity as much as promotion: the same kitchen, the same expectations, now under his direction. He also served as Executive Chef at The Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, adding another Chicago luxury property to a career defined by polished output and close attention to service.

Today

Since 2018, Damion Henry has led The Langham, Chicago as Executive Chef with a guest-first method that starts before the first plate is planned. His process is built on listening and then calibrating the meal to what the diner actually wants, not what a fixed format dictates. As he has said, "I try to learn about the guests, what they enjoy, anything they don’t like to eat, where they have traveled." The work begins with that information and the service takes shape around it. That approach keeps the kitchen in conversation with the table. Rather than pushing a preset idea, Damion Henry gathers the details, asks direct questions, and builds from there. He has put it plainly: "We have a phone call and we talk everything about food." For an artisan working in hospitality, that says plenty — the craft is not only in the cookery, but in the listening that informs it.

In Their Words “I try to learn about the guests, what they enjoy, anything they don’t like to eat, where they have traveled.” “We have a phone call and we talk everything about food.”

Recognition

The key marker in Damion Henry’s trajectory at the property was his 2018 move from Executive Sous Chef to Executive Chef at The Langham, Chicago. That promotion reflects a five-year stretch of steady refinement, followed by a leadership role earned through continuity, judgment, and the confidence built inside the house itself.