Joseph Raney

Coming Up

At Skogen Kitchen in Custer, United States, the owner/chef role asks for both line-level discipline and control of the room. Raney’s path to that position reads as a steady alignment between the restaurant’s identity and his own approach: straightforward food, direct standards, and a clear idea of the dining room he wants to run. The result is a place shaped less by affectation than by consistency, with its rhythm set by the people eating there and the service model he chose to build around them.

Where They Are Now

The kitchen standard at Skogen Kitchen is stated without softening. Raney makes the expectation clear for the room and the line alike: "If people aren’t showing up for work or working hard, and the cooks aren’t putting everything they have into the dishes, then who am I?" That is a management line, but it is also a craft position. The emphasis is on commitment, on showing up with full effort, and on making each service count through discipline rather than spectacle. In that sense, the restaurant’s backbone is not just the menu but the work ethic behind it.

Signature

Joseph Raney’s signature dishes include sweet corn ravioli and Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs. Both point to a kitchen that favors clarity over ornament. One reads as comfort rendered with care; the other takes a familiar format and sharpens it. Taken together, they reflect the same approach Raney describes at Skogen Kitchen: food that is direct, grounded, and made to hold together cleanly on the plate.

In Their Words “We just began cooking what we love to cook and serving guests the way we know how.”

Honors

Joseph's honors include James Beard Award semifinalist, Best Chef: Midwest (2023).