Debbie Gold is the Executive Chef of Found Kitchen and Social House, The Barn and Stolp Island Social in the Chicago-area. Your host, Jensen worked for Chef Gold at James Beard award-winning 40 Sardines, in Kansas City, when he was just a 23 year old punk kid. Debbie is serious about family meal and her restaurant "family". She recalls being a 17 year old working at Poppin Fresh Pies, as a server, and even then realizing she was meant to be in the kitchen. We play a little Best Served On Ice Breaker game of Bracketology: Soup Edition, and Debbie gives us her picks in head to head soup match-ups. You'll get to hear from one of her #UnsungHospitalityHeroes, Andrew Longres, who worked at 40 Sardines at 19 and is now the Executive Chef at The American, in Kansas City, where Chef Gold won her Best Chef Midwest James Beard award. 

Website - FoundKitchen.com

Facebook - /FoundKitchen

Instagram - @FoundKitchen   @StolpIslandSocial   @BarnEvanston

Where are you from originally?

Northern suburb of Chicago, Glencoe.

First job in the industry?

My senior year high school, at Poppin' Fresh Pies, I was 17 years old.

Proudest moment of your career?

Winning a James Beard Foundation Award Best Chef Midwest; returning to Chicago and being praised by the restaurant critics.

Two things most people don't know about you?

I am a very picky eater. I was a single mother, raising two children, while maintaining my career.

Food and/or drinks staples in your house?

artisan cheeses and salami, chicken noodle soup, chocolate.

Words to live by?

Treat everyone the way you want to be treated yourself.

The Chicago native found inspiration in the pages of Bon Appetit in high school and soon began whipping up impressive meals for her family. Before long, Debbie had taken the first steps toward her now celebrated culinary career. After receiving a graduate degree in Restaurant Management from the University of Illinois, she spent a total of four years studying and working in some of the most famed kitchens in France. Gold attended Ecole Hoteliere Tain l'Hermitage, cooked at Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as small country-side restaurants throughout France. Upon returning to the States, Debbie continued her training with the legendary Charlie Trotter, holding down every position from the hotline to pastry. She went on to become the Pastry Chef at The Everest Room, before accepting the Chef position at Mirador, acclaimed “twenty something, shoe-string bistro” by The New York Times.

Gold then turned her sights to Kansas City to begin a stellar twenty-year run; named Executive Chef of The American Restaurant, where she won a James Beard Foundation Award for “Best Midwest Chef.” A few years later, she opened her own spot, 40 Sardines, which garnered Gold a coveted James Beard Foundation nomination for “Best New Midwest Restaurant.”  She was also recognized by Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, battling against fellow award-winning chefs for two seasons.

In 2017, Gold found her way back to her hometown of Chicago as the Executive Chef of Tied House, where after opening, she was given three stars by Phil Vettel, exclaiming “Chef Debbie Gold shines in return to Chicago's dining scene.” Two years later, she was reconnected with restaurateur Amy Morton and joined her as Executive Chef of Found Kitchen + Social House. These kindred spirits, who cut their teeth with each other on their first endeavor, have a paralleled passion for all things local and are destined to do great things.