Aaron London (Chef)
Aaron London (Chef)
Aaron London is an American chef and entrepreneur.
He is the owner and head chef at Al's Place in San Francisco.
Career
London got his first job working at an earring factory on the outskirts of a tiny town called Graton, California.
He would stamp the backings with a "made in Thailand" stamp and then attach the earrings and sort them in boxes.
His next job brought 14 year old London closer to finding his passion in food.
This time he was working as a dishwasher at a Mexican food restaurant that was owned by his second grade teacher, Mario.
He then went on to become a dishwasher at a fancier Greek restaurant where he also had a chance to perfect menial cooking tasks like wringing spinach and folding phyllo dough.
At 16 years old London lied his way into an advanced cooking class at his local junior college, claiming to be a sous chef at a fancy restaurant.
Even though he barely passed, it was during this class at a Meals on Wheels event where London had a serendipitous meeting with Dan Berman, chef-owner of Mixx.
At 17 years old London became the sous chef at Mixx.
He then moved to NYC where he finished culinary school and worked at a chain of Michelin-starred restaurants, Daniel, L’ Astrance, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Au Pied de Cochon and Ubuntu.
He left Ubuntu to open up his own eatery, Al's Place.
Al's Place is a 45 seat reverse-steakhouse, which means that it's vegetable focused and meats are treated as side dishes.
Awards
While working at Ubuntu, London became a two-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee for Rising Star Chef in 2011 and 2012.
Al's Place topped Bon Appétit's Top Ten Best New Restaurants list in 2015.
Personal Life
Aaron London's tattoos are inspired by 19th century naturalist, Ernst Haeckel.