i. Biography
Before Thomas Zacharias became chef and founder of The Locavore in 2022, the work had already taken shape in Kerala, India, in his grandmother’s kitchen. That early setting matters in culinary practice: it is where rhythm, care, and a first sense of flavor are often learned before they are named. In Zacharias’s case, those lessons became a base layer, one that later held as his work moved from India to Zürich.
Coming Up
Formal training at the Culinary Institute of America gave Zacharias a broader technical frame, and that matters in kitchens where precision and adaptability have to travel together. In 2009, he worked as line cook at Le Bernardin, a role that placed him inside a high-standard professional environment and added weight to the practical side of his formation. After that, he became Executive Chef and partner at The Bombay Canteen, a step that marked not just advancement in rank but responsibility for the kitchen’s identity and point of view. Today, Thomas Zacharias is chef and founder of The Locavore, a role he has held since 2022, and Executive Chef of Haus Hiltl. Read together, those positions show a career built through accumulation: local memory, formal training, disciplined line work, and leadership inside distinct restaurant settings.
Where They Are Now
Since 2022, Zacharias has been chef and founder of The Locavore, and that role now anchors his current practice. The title signals independent authorship as much as cooking, with Thomas Zacharias operating under a platform shaped by his own choices. He also serves as Executive Chef at Haus Hiltl in Zürich, Switzerland, extending his work into another kitchen and another context without breaking from the same steady professional arc. The sequence is easy to track in the facts. A childhood kitchen in Kerala led to the Culinary Institute of America; CIA led to Le Bernardin in 2009; Le Bernardin preceded Executive Chef and partner responsibility at The Bombay Canteen; and the present is split between The Locavore and Haus Hiltl. The line is not dramatic. It is cumulative, and that is often how durable culinary careers are made.
In Their Words “CIA was like a culinary wonderland for me and I felt like a kid in a candy store with the plethora of resources, information, opportunities, and culinary talent on campus.” “I’d describe myself as a chef who is rooted in tradition but also embraces growth through my culinary adventures.”
Honors
The record attached to Thomas Zacharias runs through the Culinary Institute of America, a line cook role at Le Bernardin in 2009, Executive Chef and partner at The Bombay Canteen, chef and founder of The Locavore from 2022, and Executive Chef at Haus Hiltl in Zürich. Those markers show a career shaped by formal training, kitchen discipline, and the gradual assumption of wider responsibility across different restaurants and settings.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Thomas
What is Thomas Zacharias's current role?
As of 2026, Thomas Zacharias is Chef and Founder.
Where did Thomas Zacharias train or study?
Thomas Zacharias trained at Culinary Institute of America.
