Stephen Conklin

Career Stephen Conklin has been Chef de Cuisine at Uchi Houston since 2022, bringing a palate shaped outside Texas and refined through years of moving between kitchens with different standards, tempos, and pressures. At Uchi Houston, that background shows up as a steady line through the work: Italian and French influences, carried into a contemporary kitchen without excess or noise. His training runs through Utah State University, the Institute of Culinary Education, and Tenino High School, with Grays Harbor College also listed in his education. That mix of schools sits behind a career built on repetition, consistency, and gradual advancement. The early stretch at The Keg Steakhouse + Bar, where Stephen Conklin worked as Leader Broiler from 1995–2010, established the daily discipline of line work and the habits that support more senior service. The Lincoln Ristorante years show progression in plain view: Head Chef at Lincoln Ristorante, then Sous Chef at Lincoln Ristorante, then Chef de Partie at Lincoln Ristorante. That sequence points to sustained immersion in one operation, where responsibility shifts by station and technique is tested across levels rather than in a single title. Stephen Conklin then moved into Executive Chef roles at The Bastion Collection and Café Leonelli, before serving as Executive Chef at Ruth's Chris Steak House from 2014–2021. Since 2022, his work at Uchi Houston has continued that same upward register, with the present role reading as the accumulation of everything that came before.

Signature

At Uchi Houston, Stephen Conklin has folded Italian and French references into the menu in a way that stays inside the restaurant’s larger framework. The approach is additive rather than declarative: a matter of placement, restraint, and the kind of control that lets inherited flavors sit comfortably in a contemporary setting. Tako is the signature dish he singles out. Stephen Conklin describes it as a dish he enjoys plating because of the visual work involved and the reaction it gets at the table: “It’s a fun dish to plate, and I enjoy seeing people’s reactions when they eat it.” He also points to the texture of the octopus, saying, “We receive many compliments on the texture of the octopus.”

Recognition

New York City appears in Stephen Conklin’s own account as a defining place for professional growth. “Living and working in NYC was crucial for my growth and provided me with the opportunity to truly train as a chef,” he says. The line is direct, and it frames craft as something built through time, repetition, and responsibility rather than through a single break or revelation.