Jeremy Ford

Professional kitchen discipline came early for Jeremy Ford: garde manger at Matthews in Jacksonville, Florida, then line work as a cook at L'Orangerie in Los Angeles, California and Patina in Los Angeles, California. Those rooms gave him the standard early-career apprenticeship—cold station accuracy, service tempo, repetition, and the habit of moving cleanly from one step to the next. A later turn into leadership came with his role as chef at 3030 Ocean in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (from ).

By the time he became executive chef at Matador Room (from 2015), Ford had already put in the years that separate cook from manager: running a kitchen, keeping pace, and shaping a more defined point of view through service rather than theory. He also served as chef at Matador Room. The personal spark is plain and specific: Jeremy Ford developed a love for cooking after meeting his maternal grandmother when he was 14.

That kind of early family connection often enters the trade as a durable reference point, long before any title does. Today, Ford’s work moves across several formats. As chef and owner of Stubborn Seed (since 2017), owner of Krun-Chi, chef and owner of The Butcher's Club at PGA National Resort & Spa (since 2021), and co-host of Fast Foodies (since 2021), he works in restaurant ownership, food media, and public-facing formats without leaving the kitchen behind.

The present-day shape of Ford’s career is built on range, but the through line is control. Stubborn Seed, since 2017, anchors him as chef and owner. Krun-Chi extends him as owner. The Butcher's Club at PGA National Resort & Spa, since 2021, adds another chef-and-owner role, while Fast Foodies, since 2021, places him in a conversational setting where food is performed, discussed, and tested in real time.

Ford's honors include One MICHELIN Star for Stubborn Seed, James Beard Foundation Awards semifinalist, Best Chef: South (2022), and Top Chef, Season 13 winner. In trade terms, that combination signals restaurant-level recognition, peer acknowledgment, and the visibility that came with winning Top Chef, Season 13.