Jonah Bacon Lefkowitz

Connect What is your signature dish?

Chicken and Cabbage Pie with herb salad and Chicken Jus Sour Cream. I've worked in both pastry and savoury kitchens so one of my favourite dishes I've made puts both those skill sets together. It's a chicken and cabbage pie made of braised chicken thighs, slow looked cabbage in pastry, served with dressed herbs and a chicken jus sour cream made from reducing the braising liquid. It's a simple dish in it's essence but with a few techniques to make it special, and it is so so tasty

Who is your culinary inspiration?

Jose Andres is the kind of chef I want to be, a true humanitarian and inspiration to the industry. I've also had the pleasure of working for Coulson Armstrong who helped push me in a really good direction in my career and help me understand where I wanted to go when it came to using ingredients and understanding where they come from. I've also been greatly inspired by the work of Nancy Silverton, whose work greatly influences my own.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I want to open a cafe and bakery someday and would like to use the money to start a fund for that. I've worked in fine dining for a lot of my career but in the current financial time most of my close friends and family can't afford to eat at many of the restaurants I've worked. I want to create a place for everyone, where everybody I love can come in and feel comfortable. The older I get the more I'm looking to find things that make me happy rather than just make me money.