Monday Night Zoom With CHOW – Greg Baker

Speaker

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  Greg Baker Founder - Chef Greg Baker Group
  

  Greg Baker

  Founder - Chef Greg Baker Group

  Clearwater, FL raised Greg Baker set his sights on Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR directly out of high school. He chose to leave the sunshine and white sandy beaches (and a fully paid college tuition) for diverse farmland, abundant adventurous eaters, and an awesome punk rock scene. It would be in Portland where he would find his love and cement his respect for the elegance of Poor Man Food. Forging partnerships with local farmers for nearly a decade, Greg took these lessons back home to Tampa Bay where he would single-handedly change the culinary scene by putting faces to farmers and daringly utilize all aspects of proteins. To do this successfully, he was forced to change his menu every week. In the beginning, there were only crickets; with each week passing, he forged a new food climate in an area known for little culinary creativity. He boasted thousands of food fans that travel from all over to enjoy his creations. But Baker remains very humbled by his success often being quoted “I’m just a dumb kid who cooks.”

  Baker opened The Refinery with his wife; Michelle, in 2010 in the historic neighborhood of Seminole Heights, Tampa. His menus incorporate the flavors of the vast countrysides from across the globe, mixed with classical French technique all the while keeping in mind Florida’s rich cultural history. He is known for resurrecting nearly lost Florida ingredients and cooking techniques, for whole animal butchery, whole vegetable use, being a sustainable seafood advocate, and for being an avid defender of farmer worker rights and policy reform. He’s lent his voice to address the epidemic of mental health issues in the restaurant industry through media outlets such as Food and Wine and Wall Street Journal.

  Both The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Bay Times consider the Refinery one of the most prized restaurants of Tampa Bay. Chef Greg and The Refinery has been named in Bon Appetit, Southern Living, Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes.com, Esquire Magazine, New York Magazine, The Local Palate, USA Today, The Washington Post, Edible Tampa Bay, and Garden & Gun Magazine as well as countless local and national online and weekly publications. Southern Living Magazine named The Refinery Best 100 Restaurants in the South 2014. Zagat rated The Refinery ‘Best Restaurant’ 2012 – 2015. The James Beard Foundation named The Refinery as a semi-finalist Best New Restaurant in 2011 and named Baker a semi-finalist for Best Chef South in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, as well as a Smart Catch Leader in 2018.

  In 2019, Baker retired from restaurant life and launched the Chef Greg Baker Group (CBBG), a full-service hospitality industry consulting firm. Since then he has consulted with multiple startups, worked in the cannabis edibles space, and now focuses on writing about food and the restaurant world.