About the Executive Chef
Falling in love with cooking at the age of 14, Executive Chef David Belknap likes to take a "flavor forward approach to cuisine."
"Instead of just meat and potatoes, I play with different ingredients and texture so every bite has a bit of ‘Umami' to it," says Chef David. "I try to work without unnecessary ingredients, for example why use flour to thicken a soup when you can use cashews. Or why put butter in something when Olive oil works just as well."
Very conscious of society's growing number of different diets, allergies and intolerances, Chef David tries to play to those audiences by making dishes that are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan etc. "Not to say that we are by any means a meat-free, gluten-free restaurant. There is plenty of meat and cheese served but I like to give people options aside from a basic ‘side salad' or ‘vegetable plate'," he explains.
Born and raised in Columbus, he started washing dishes at Brookside Country Club at the age of 14 and moved up to Sous Chef at K2U Restaurant in the Short North by the time he was 19. He left for culinary school in Pittsburgh at the age of 22. After working in multiple cities and independent restaurants and The Ritz Carlton for a few years, he went to New York City where he worked for Chef Thomas Keller at PerSe for an "entirely eye-opening experience." Nearly two years later he had the opportunity to open his own restaurant, L&W Oyster Company on Fifth Avenue. He spent four years there as chef and operating partner before moving to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico to be with his girlfriend Alexandra and her son Marcelo, who are now his wife and son.
"After seven or eight months we decided it was in our family's interest to move back to the states," said Chef David. "So here we are, back where it all began, raising our family in my hometown. I'm so proud and excited to be part of this amazing hotel and to bring a little bit of my culinary travels back to Columbus."