Start here if you want a meal that tells you something about Columbus cooking right now. This first index runs from Phuntso Lama’s jhol momo at North Market to Richard Blondin’s sauces at The Refectory, with tasting menus, pasta, burgers, live fire, and jazz in between.
How this list works
The names are alphabetical, not ranked. For this first edition, a chef needed a current Columbus-area kitchen, a public source confirming the role, and food you can go order. Awards and press helped us find candidates. They did not decide the list.
Restaurant jobs change. Every profile links to the chef’s current restaurants and to useful reporting from local or trade publications. This list is deliberately short, not definitive. Send a correction or another name to [email protected].
Experience Columbus Seasonal communal tasting menus
Andrew Smith
At Isla, Smith runs the kitchen while Devoney Mills hosts a room built around communal tables. The tasting menu changes with the season and the ingredients the kitchen needs to use. Reserve ahead.
Experience ColumbusBehind the Buzz with Andrew Smith and Devoney Mills of Isla
Nation’s Restaurant News Bengali American cooking & tasting menus
Avishar Barua
Joya’s is Barua’s daytime café in Worthington. Agni is his live-fire tasting-menu restaurant in the Brewery District. Both draw from Bengali food, Ohio, and the dishes he grew up eating.
Nation’s Restaurant NewsHow Chef Avishar Barua brings humor and value to fine dining
Experience Columbus Wood-fired Italian cooking & hospitality
BJ Lieberman
Lieberman cooks Italian food over an open hearth at Metsi’s. Around the corner, Ginger Rabbit serves small plates and cocktails during nightly jazz sets.
Axios ColumbusBest Day Ever: Chef BJ Lieberman
Speck Italian Eatery Fine dining, pasta & Mediterranean cooking
Josh Dalton
Dalton now runs three very different downtown restaurants: tasting menus at Veritas, fresh pasta at Speck, and shareable Mediterranean dishes at Amara on the Scioto Mile.
yes, ColumbusCelebrating Downtown, Part II: A Culinary Evolution
The Little Grand Market Midwest smashburgers & local sourcing
Matthew Heaggans
Preston’s keeps the menu tight: smashburgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, and shakes made with locally sourced ingredients. Find it in Clintonville and at The Little Grand Market.
Breakfast with NickMatt Heaggans, co-owner of Ambrose & Eve + Preston’s
Momo Ghar via 614NOW Tibetan & Nepali dumplings
Phuntso Lama
Lama built Momo Ghar around momos folded by hand and served steamed, fried, or in jhol. The downtown North Market counter is the restaurant’s only current location.
EaterThe Nepalese Momos Drawing People in to This Ohio Grocery Store
Robb McCormick Photography / The Refectory Classical French technique & fine dining
Richard Blondin
Blondin joined The Refectory in 1992. More than three decades later, he still leads the kitchen, cooking contemporary American ingredients with the French technique he learned in Lyon.
Columbus Business FirstColumbus Icons: Refectory owner reflects on a life in fine dining