Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/504216
may 2015 / the tasting panel / 105 L ike many Southerners, Ari Kolender grew up cooking with his family, but it wasn't until he went off to college that he realized he could turn it into a career. Ditching the classroom for the kitchen, he headed west to Los Angeles, making his way through the restaurant caste system, starting as a dishwasher. After attending Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, his first job out of culinary school in 2005 was at one of L.A.'s best-known and most prestigious restaurants, Providence—no small feat for a recent culinary grad. Kolender worked under Chef Michael Cimarusti's tutelage for four years, before working as Chef de Cuisine under Chef Jordan Khan at Red Medicine. Soon the South called again, and with a desire to be closer to his parents and grandparents, Kolender moved back to Charleston in 2012, working at seafood-centric The Ordinary, before branching out to open his own restaurant with The Ordinary's former GM Brooks Reitz. The res- taurant, dubbed Leon's Oyster Shop, brought together Kolender's Southern roots with his time spent in California. While the restaurant's specialties are fried chicken, and of course, oysters, Kolender explained, "I wanted to get away from the mentality of heavy, rich, gut-busting Southern food and contrast our fried food with light, fresh food like vegetables and salads." This mixed cuisine is apparent on the Leon's Oyster Shop menu, where dishes such as charred radicchio and chilled roasted carrots share space with fried oyster sandwiches and a good ol' Southern fish fry. Next up, Reitz and Kolender recently opened up Saint Alban, a wine bar and coffee shop, something that's been sorely missing from Charleston, according to Kolender. Bringing eclectic cuisine and Asian flavors to Southern food has paid off—he received a 2015 James Beard nomination for Rising Star of the Year. With so many great projects and growing recogni- tion for his great cooking, Kolender is certainly one to watch out for. Our sister publication, The SOMM Journal, will bring Kolender to the International Chardonnay Symposium in Pismo Beach, CA, on May 29th as its Star Chef. He will work with Executive Chef Jacob Moss of Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa to create and execute a multi- course dinner paired with Chardonnay for the La Paulée Dinner and Awards Ceremony. Event highlights are available at www.thechardonnaysym- posium.com/events. ARI KOLENDER BRINGS THE CALIFORNIA COAST TO HIS SOUTHERN HOMETOWN by Jesse Hom-Dawson Southerner at heart: Chef Ari Kolender. PHOTO COURTESY OF ARI KOLENDER Meet the Star Chef of the 2015 International Chardonnay Symposium From Charleston to L.A. and Back Again