Max MacKinnon

Coming Up

Cooking built around gathering still has to answer to technique: timing, seasoning, repetition, and the discipline to make food useful at the table. In Max MacKinnon’s case, that early social function gave way to a more exacting practice after Middlebury College, with a contemporary register that stays close to appetite rather than abstraction. The line of development is measured: instinct sharpened into restraint, and restraint into a working style. Hospitality at the operator level puts the plate, room, service rhythm, and business decisions into one system. As executive chef and partner of Libertine (since 2023), and co-owner of Plus de Vin (since 2024), Max works in that full field rather than in the kitchen alone. The through line is clarity: food and service built to feel considered without excess signaling.

Where They Are Now

Cuisine du marché depends on the market setting the terms and the kitchen knowing when to stop. At Libertine, where Max is executive chef and partner, the cooking follows that greenmarket-guided mode typical of French countryside bistros: seasonal supply gives the menu its movement, and the bistro form gives it structure. The craft is in response rather than imposition, keeping the food composed, direct, and tied to what is fresh and immediate. Oeuf mayonnaise is a hard test of proportion because there is little to cover error. Libertine’s signature version, associated with Max’s kitchen, is noted for careful preparation and attention to plating and presentation. The work sits in the egg, the mayonnaise, and the arrangement: texture, balance, and a clean visual finish rather than abundance or flourish. A bistro kitchen and a second hospitality venture require the same preference for precision over noise. At Libertine (since 2023), Max’s work is guided by market logic and bistro structure; at Plus de Vin (since 2024), his role extends that discipline into another expression of hospitality. Across both, the operating value is restraint: simple things handled with care, polish, and consistency.

Signature

The signature dishes at Libertine — oeuf mayonnaise, lentils vinaigrette with bright dressing, and braised leeks — work in a compact French bistro vocabulary where delicacy, acidity, softness, and structure matter more than scale. In Max MacKinnon’s hands, lentils vinaigrette with bright dressing brings lift and clarity; braised leeks rely on patience and softness; the oeuf mayonnaise holds the line on proportion, texture, and presentation. The point is not excess, but seasoning that is awake and textures that meet cleanly.

In Their Words “I started cooking in college, mostly for friends and family, and got really into it from there and went to culinary school in New York City after that.”