Kyle Knall

Coming Up

Before Birch, before the current shape of his career came into focus, Kyle Knall trained at Stone Bank Farm, an experience that laid the groundwork for the precision and discipline now threaded through his cooking. It is the sort of formative training that does not announce itself loudly later on; rather, it appears in the way a chef builds flavor, handles seasonality, and understands the value of repetition, patience, and timing.

Where They Are Now

Since 2021, Knall has led Birch as chef and co-owner in Milwaukee. The restaurant serves as the primary address for his current cooking, but it also reads like the clearest expression of two strands that have long run side by side in his career: the shared responsibility of partnership and the discipline of a cuisine shaped by farms, fire, and the rhythm of the seasons. At Birch, the wood-fired hearth gives the food its pulse, while the broader farm-to-table frame keeps it alert to what is fresh, local, and timely. Alongside that work, he serves as culinary director at Stone Bank Farm in Milwaukee. The role lends a circular quality to his story, returning him to a place that helped form him without forcing the point. In this current chapter, the line between past and present feels especially strong: the training ground becomes a leadership post, and the language of craft continues to deepen. Knall also speaks about cooking in practical, elemental terms. Acidity is one of the recurring tools in the way he approaches everyday food, a small adjustment that can sharpen a dish and keep it alive on the palate. As he puts it, “In terms of everyday cooking, I'm always looking to add some acidity.” He has also named bourbon as a flavor-building ingredient, saying, “We like using bourbon to build flavors.” Both remarks suggest a cook who thinks carefully about balance, layering, and the way a single note can shift the whole composition.

In Their Words “The answer sounds like a cop out, I know, but the reality is, it all depends on the season.” “In terms of everyday cooking, I'm always looking to add some acidity.”

Honors

Kyle Knall has received James Beard Foundation, Outstanding Chef nomination (2022). The plain achievement to state is his role as chef and co-owner of Birch in Milwaukee, paired with his current culinary directorship at Stone Bank Farm and his former partnership posts at Maysville and Kenton’s. Taken together, those posts sketch a career built not on flash, but on steadiness, accumulated experience, and a clear commitment to cooking that responds to place and time.