Edouardo Jordan is an American chef and restaurateur based in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

Early life and career

Jordan grew up in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

and studied business at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. He then attended the Le Cordon Bleu (

Orlando Culinary Academy The Orlando Culinary Academy (OCA) was a culinary and hospitality training school and an affiliated institution, affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America. The Academy was established in January 2002 and was located in Orlando, Florida, O ...

) and got his first kitchen job in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. Jordan received an apprenticeship at

The French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredie ...

and then worked at The Herbfarm in

Woodinville, Washington Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King ( Cottage Lake) an ...

. He then went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to work at

Per Se Per se may refer to: * '' per se'', a Latin phrase meaning "by itself" or "in itself". * Illegal ''per se'', the legal usage in criminal and antitrust law * Negligence ''per se'', legal use in tort law * Per Se (restaurant), a New York City restaur ...

. He spent a month working with salumists in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

before returning to New York to join the kitchen at Lincoln Ristorante. In 2012, he moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to work at Matt Dillon's Sitka and Spruce. He soon became the Chef De Cuisine at Dillon's Bar Sajor.

Restaurants

In 2015, Jordan opened his own restaurant, Salare in

Ravenna, Seattle Ravenna is a neighborhood in northeastern Seattle, Washington named after Ravenna, Italy. Though Ravenna is considered a residential neighborhood, it also is home to several businesses, many of which are located in the University Village, a sho ...

, with some help from a Kickstarter campaign. Salare's menu is based in Jordan's French and Italian training with some Southern influences. He was named a StarChefs Rising Star and won

Eater Eater may refer to: * Eater (band), an English punk rock group * "Eater" (''Fear Itself''), a 2008 episode of the NBC television horror anthology ''Fear Itself'' * ''Eater'' (novel), a 2000 science fiction novel by Gregory Benford * ''Eater'' (w ...

Seattle's 2015 “Chef of the Year” title. He was named one of the Best New Chefs of 2016 by '' Food & Wine'' magazine. In 2017, Jordan opened his second restaurant, JuneBaby, featuring Southern food and located just down the street from Salare, and it received national attention. It was selected as a Critic's Pick by

Pete Wells Pete Wells is the restaurant critic for ''The New York Times''. He has held the position since November 2011, succeeding Sam Sifton. Wells was adopted as an infant and grew up in Rhode Island. He lives in Brooklyn and is married to the novelis ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. At the 2018

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

s, Jordan won the title of Best Chef: Northwest, and JuneBaby won Best New Restaurant. The ''

Puget Sound Business Journal The ''Puget Sound Business Journal'' (PSBJ) is a weekly American City Business Journals publication containing articles about business people, issues, and events in the greater Seattle, Washington area. The publication also publishes a technology ...

'' named Jordan to its 2018 list of 40 Under 40. ''Seattle Magazine'' named him one of Seattle's Most Influential People. ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' magazine named Jordan as a finalist for sexiest chef alive. On June 8, 2021,

reported that Jordan had announced the permanent closing of Salare. JuneBaby is set to close in December 2023.

Sexual harassment allegations

Jordan was accused of repeatedly groping four of his restaurant employees at work, according to a June 13, 2021 article in the '' Seattle Times''. An additional ten workers said that he "made sexual comments, including about their breasts, or frequently touched them in unwanted ways, like hugging them from behind at work." On the day the article was published, nearly all of Jordan's restaurant staff at his Salare and JuneBaby restaurants quit their jobs. As of January 2022, no criminal charges were filed nor were any civil actions brought against Jordan as a result of these accusations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Edouardo 1980 births Living people American chefs Chefs from Seattle James Beard Foundation Award winners People from St. Petersburg, Florida