NEW YORK Aquavit, the New York fine-dining restaurant of celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, is looking for a new executive chef to work under him following the departure of the restaurant's previous chef, Johan Svensson, who had been there since 2006.
Acall Monday to the restaurant confirmed that a search for a new chef is under way. Currently heading up the kitchen is Marcus Jernmark, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of Grythyttan in Sweden, who recently worked at the residence of the consul general of Sweden in New York. Jernmark was hired as a sous chef at Aquavit in August 2009, according to his resume.
Aquavit is the flagship of the Townhouse Restaurant Group, which is operated by Samuelsson and his business partner, Håken Swahn.
Samuelsson, who won the James Beard Foundation “Rising Star” award in 1999 and was named best chef in New York City by that organization in 2003, most recently gained attention as a rare guest chef at the White House, where he cooked President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, with executive chef Cristeta Comerford, for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Singh is a vegetarian, and Aquavit is one of the few restaurants with a vegetarian tasting menu.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].