i. Biography
David Posey is Executive Chef and Co-owner of Elske in Chicago, United States, and that pairing of titles matters: one role sets the kitchen’s technical standard, the other binds him to the restaurant’s long-term direction. In a dining room as closely watched as Elske, the work is not only to cook at a high level, but to keep the operation coherent over time. “I had such high hopes and dreams. I wanted to open the next The French Laundry when I was 15.” David has said.
The Work Today
Professional discipline in the kitchen often starts with training that makes standards hard to ignore, and David Posey’s education at Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, belongs to that category. From there, he moved into the pace of serious restaurant work and became chef at Blackbird until 2014, a Chicago post that required consistency, precision, and the ability to deliver night after night without losing control of the room. Elske, which Posey joined in 2016, marked a different phase: not simply a chef’s post, but a shared stake in the restaurant itself. As Executive Chef and co-owner, his work carries both authorship and responsibility. That combination is central to how a place develops its identity; the kitchen sets the terms, but ownership means staying with those terms as the restaurant ages and changes. Since 2016, Posey has helped define Elske through that steady, ongoing presence.
Acclaim
The clearest public marker in this profile is Posey’s association with Elske, where his name is now tied to the restaurant’s place in Chicago’s dining landscape. That standing is sharpened by an ambition he stated plainly at 15: he wanted to open the next The French Laundry. The force of that line is not in nostalgia, but in how directly it frames the work that came after it. His recognition is therefore less about a stack of awards than about continuity: an early standard, tested through years of kitchen labor, later made legible in a restaurant he helps run. Elske is the strongest evidence of that arc, and the reason David Posey is known in the trade today.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of David
What is David Posey's current role?
As of 2026, David Posey is Executive Chef and Co-owner.
Where did David Posey train or study?
David Posey trained at Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park.
