Jason Pfeiffer

The Climb

Technique and range start early in the record at Culinary Institute of America, where Jason Pfeiffer picked up a base that would keep showing up in later kitchens. The next stop, a hostel and retreat center owned by a former chef, traded polish for repetition. That kind of room teaches the trade plainly: show up, repeat the work, keep the standard, and make simple food count. The next step was a pre-externship stage at Gramercy Tavern in New York, New York, where the pace and expectations of a celebrated dining room added another layer. That sequence now leads to Manhatta, and the career line reads as a practical ascent: from training, to grind, to a room where precision and breadth have to hold together.

Today

At Manhatta, the opening period still sits close to the work. Jason Pfeiffer has said, "In the months leading up to opening [Manhatta], I was cooking all sorts of stuff." The point is not spectacle; it is range. Before a menu settles, there is room to test, stretch, and sort what the kitchen can carry. That range narrows in use, without losing flexibility. He has said, "I definitely still will get elaborate if I want to or am testing something out, but most of the time I braise things, or cook a lot of Korean food. Basic stuff." It is a useful split: when the work calls for elaboration, he can go there; when it does not, the kitchen leans on braising and steady, everyday cooking.

Signature

Jason's signature dishes include foie gras presse, roasted duck, Wagyu Bavette, smoked burrata with summer melon, and wild mushroom ravioli with parmigiano reggiano and chamomile butter. The list points to a kitchen working across richness, texture, and contrast, with plates that are built to carry detail without overinsisting on it.

In Their Words “I definitely still will get elaborate if I want to or am testing something out, but most of the time I braise things, or cook a lot of Korean food. Basic stuff.” “I realized, oh, people do things with food and that’s a career and a way of life.”