Chef Tim Kirker

Tim Kirker headed to Minnesota for college seeking an experience to rival the richness of his Maine upbringing. The tentative pursuit of a teaching career gave way to the allure and excitement of a professional kitchen. Cooking became his window into regional and world cultures, helping feed the same curiosity that led to a history degree at Carleton College.

Still seeking engaging spaces he moved to Manhattan to work at the stately Waldorf- Astoria after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America. Early in his career, he sought the range of experiences and locales afforded a young, nomadic line cook hoping to broaden his craft in a variety of kitchens. Successive jobs on both coasts have enabled him to develop a facility in luxury hotels, including the Peninsula Chicago, as well as dynamic, à la carte operations such as San Francisco's Bacar, Tabla and Peacock Alley in NYC, and Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley. He has honed his outdoor cooking skills while paddling, cycling, and camping throughout the Northern Hemisphere including a season as chef of a fly-fishing camp in the Yukon delta and extended bike tours of Iceland and the Continental Divide.

His appreciation for classical technique and traditional foodways has led to a fulfilling partnership as chef and partner of Bistrot Zinc in Chicago, where they pay tribute to hundreds of years of French culinary history and hospitality.

Photo courtesy of the Food Network.