Jonathan Sawyer

Coming Up

Training at Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts gave Sawyer the base that follows a cook from line to line: discipline, pace, and the habit of moving cleanly through service. Jonathan Sawyer began as a cook at The Mad Cactus in Strongsville, Ohio, then moved through chef roles at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami and Kitchen 22 in New York City. Each room changed the demands on the work. Different brigades, different expectations, different tempos, all of it building a chef’s command through repetition and pressure. As chef at Lolita in Cleveland, Ohio, Jonathan Sawyer added another local register to a career already shaped by travel. In Cleveland, Ohio, Sawyer’s work continued at Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio (2009–2020), Noodlecat in Cleveland, Ohio (2011–2020), and Trentina in Cleveland, Ohio (until 2019). Read together, those years show a chef building a body of work by staying in motion: different menus, different rooms, same insistence on pace, control, and taste.

Where They Are Now

Vinegar is the clearest through-line in Sawyer’s current kitchen thinking. Jonathan Sawyer has described it in practical terms: “I currently have nine kinds that are fermenting, from straight red wine to one with late-harvest Riesling. On top of that, there are five kinds that we’re finishing in new-American-oak barrels.” The work points to a cook interested in acid as structure, not garnish: fermentation, finishing, and the patient shaping of sharpness. Foraging extends that same logic to spring produce. Sawyer has said, “We get a good majority of our springtime produce from foraging: wild watercress, shiitake, oyster mushrooms, ramps, garlic mustards.” The list is direct and seasonal. It places the kitchen in relation to what can be gathered at the edge of the market and brought back with enough care to keep its texture, bite, and timing intact.

In Their Words “I currently have nine kinds that are fermenting, from straight red wine to one with late-harvest Riesling. On top of that, there are five kinds that we’re finishing in new-American-oak barrels.” “I’m not ashamed or embarrassed by anything I’ve done. I’ve always operated aboveboard, and put my employees and my farmers ahead of everyone, including myself.”

Honors

Jonathan Sawyer has received James Beard Foundation Award, Best Chef Great Lakes (2015). Jonathan's honors include Best Chef: Great Lakes (2015) and Best New Chef.