Personalities

Jan Birnbaum

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Partner & Chef

Jan Birnbaum – Executive Chef of EPIC Roasthouse

Chef and restaurateur Jan Birnbaum, renowned throughout the culinary world as an unrivalled architect of creative cuisine and a virtuoso of bright flavors and intensity, runs the show at EPIC Roasthouse. As chef and co-owner, Birnbaum has brought together his philosophy of honest cooking and the experience of an acclaimed, 30-plus year career which has resulted in a menu of fun, inventive, and contemporary interpretations of traditional steakhouse favorites.

Opened in early 2008, EPIC Roasthouse showcases an array of dishes from fish to fowl with a special focus on chops and steaks, including aged grass-fed beef, Kobe beef, pork and lamb, and a unique table-side aged prime rib service. True to Birnbaums's no-nonsense approach to food, cooking, and entertainment, all steaks are presented aged and bone-in, or, as he puts it: "Every steak will have a handle; everyone knows the best part is next to the bone."

Birnbaum enjoys his role at the helm of "a modern roasthouse," and brings a passion for all things meat, but the menu is also studded with an array of seafood preparations that Birnbaum has perfected in his several lives by the water, first in New Orleans, then New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. At EPIC, diners also experience Birnbaum's prowess with wood-fired cooking, a skill he perfected during one of his entrepreneurial restaurant efforts, Catahoula, his 10-year contribution to the growth of the Napa Valley. At EPIC Roasthouse, Birnbaum presides over a custom-built wood- fired hearth and a large wood-burning oven.

Birnbaum opened Catahoula in the town of Calistoga in the Napa Valley in 1994. As proprietor and chef, Birnbaum created a unique restaurant that quickly became a popular destination for serious food and wine lovers, earning rave reviews and glowing features in publications from The New York Times to Gourmet magazine. In 2004, Birnbaum sold Catahoula to explore new projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1997, a collaborative effort with Kimpton Group of San Francisco resulted in downtown Seattle's Sazerac, named after the potent New Orleans cocktail. The restaurant is synonymous with "serious fun and damned good food." A hit with Seattle's dining public since opening, the restaurant has been a tremendous success and remains one of the crown jewels in the Kimpton Group portfolio.

Prior to Catahoula and Sazerac, Birnbaum served as head chef at San Francisco's prestigious Campton Place Hotel, elevating the restaurant to four-star status and garnering awards and accolades that included Food & Wine magazine's “Top 25 Restaurants in America,” the DiRona Award for distinguished restaurants in North America, and the Conde Nast Traveler Distinguished Restaurant Award. During this time, Julia Child chose Jan as a participant for her Master Chefs series on PBS.

Before arriving in the Bay Area, Birnbaum sharpened his skills and earned distinction at a number of esteemed restaurants throughout the U.S., including New York City's Quilted Giraffe and The Rattlesnake Club in Denver. Birnbaum began his career in New Orleans with renowned chef Paul Prudhomme at yet another famous restaurant, K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. Starting as a baker, he worked his way up through the ranks to the position of lead cook.