Josh Adams is named as chef de cuisine at Cinder House

Cinder House at the Four Seasons has had a change in the lineup. Two-time James Beard Award semifinalist Josh Adams has taken over as chef de cuisine at chef Gerard Craft’s downtown eatery. The position was previously held by Aaron Martinez, who has returned to the kitchen at Vicia.

Adams comes from his lauded Illinois restaurant June, which was recognized by numerous national publications as one of the best restaurants in the Midwest during its five-year run. Adams was named Food & Wine’s People’s Best New Chef in 2013.

Adams said he looked forward to exploring South American cuisine at Cinder House. “It’s super deep, stuff that’s in Peru and Brazil,” he said. “We have a strong background in Brazilian stuff, but you can work with new flavor profiles and new ingredients, which is a big thing for me.”

The partnership between Adams and Craft has been more than a decade in the making – the two have even done a pop-up dinner together. “I always admired him,” Adams said. “We were both in that [Opinionated About Dining] top 100 restaurants list, but he was always a few spots ahead of me.”

Adams said he wants to play with some new ideas in the Cinder House kitchen, using ingredients like fermented squab and jambu, a Brazilian plant that adds a tingling sensation similar to a Sichaun peppercorn. “Doing a lot of research right now and a lot of testing,” Adams said. “But there are some staples there that we’ll always have.”

Adam Rothbarth is a staff writer at Sauce Magazine.