Executive Chef, Braden Reardon
Chef Braden worked his way up through the trenches and his path diverged several times on his way to the management table. With a resume resembling the makings of a “made-forTV movie,” he began at the ground level as a dishwasher in Tampa, Fl. After a brief time as a runaway, Chef Braden became an emancipated minor and utilized his freedom to take Advanced Placement courses. When his early studies were complete, he took time to travel. After a time in Ocean City Maryland, his love for conservation led him to pursue a degree in Zoology and Marine Biology at the University of Florida. While in Florida he spent his spare time working at a local farm-to-table restaurant. From there he traveled to Japan and Costa Rica before landing on the West Coast in Seattle and Portland.
Ahi Tuna
Dry Aged Porterhouse French Onion Soup
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He spent his time couch surfing and doing odd jobs in a nomadic search to find his path. He found himself at a fork in the road that would force him to choose between getting advanced degrees - and then, inevitably, spending long hours in a lab as a Marine Biologist - or getting back to his roots… his love for food. It was at that fork in the road that Chef Braden decided he could have more impact as a Chef. So he moved to San Francisco and worked as Chef de Cuisine at the acclaimed Restaurant and Pizzeria Picco. From the West Coast he traveled to Alaska and worked as a deckhand: fishing Salmon, King and Ophelia crab for four years. His love for conservation and the ocean inspired this part of his life. Then as love often does, it led him to NYC where he worked at the Odeon and later, the acclaimed Cafe Cluny. In NYC he learned how to use expert cooking techniques to enhance an often inferior product. High volume and
MARCH/APRIL 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 19