Jamie Bissonnette is an American restaurateur and chef. He and Ken Oringer are joint owners of a number of restaurants in Greater Boston area.[1] He is a recipient of the 2014 Best Chef Northeast for the James Beard Foundation Awards, a prestigious culinary award. He was nominated for the award in 2012 and 2013.[2]
Before he found success as a chef, he was described as a CTHC, "Connecticut punk-rock kid, straight-edge and vegetarian."[3] After culinary school he travelled and staged and at one point "his boss threatened to fire him if he didn't start eating animals."[3]
He earned a Culinary Arts degree from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale at age 19.[4] He travelled and staged, landing in Hartford, before settling in Boston. He has worked in Peking Tom's, Pigalle, Andy Husband's Tremont 647, and Eastern Standard.[4] In 2007, Oringer hired him to "head up the kitchen" at KO Prime. His work was noticed and "the Improper Bostonian named Bissonnette “Rising Star Chef” and KO Prime “Best New Restaurant.”"[4] In 2014 his first book, The New Charcuterie Cookbook: Exceptional Cured Meats to Make and Serve at Home, was published by Page Street Publishing.[5]