United States Chef

Robbie Lewis Chef Profile

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About me

I have been living in the Bay Area for the past 19 years and while I am a native of the East Bay, I was raised in the South. I moved to San Francisco with two very close friends to cook, attend culinary school and begin anew, leaving behind troubles that I had gotten myself into as a "bored" youth. Immersing myself in the most intense kitchens I could, I basically turned from an indifferent teenager into a responsible man in those environs.
The tasks of being a chef: mentoring, teaching, leading, etc., is where I take pride. I am not only trying to make good cooks but I'm trying to make good people. My job is the most rewarding when a person that has been in my employment has learned and grown from me and is ready to leave the team and I place them into another kitchen of someone that I respect and I am told by that other chef that this former cook of mine is a tremendous asset. That is my product; that is my success.
Oh yeah, and I have two ridiculously cute kids.

Cooking Influences

My greatest cooking influences are my travels. Good cooks become great cooks through travel. My MO as a line cook was to go to Europe in between every job for anywhere from 3 or 4 months to a year and a half long periods. The best fellow line cooks that I ever worked alongside of had always spent considerable time cooking in European kitchens so even though it was going to possibly slow my ascension in the ranks, the experience I gained was invaluable. I spent my longest periods in San Sebastian, Menton and over a year and a half in Italy as a chef at an agriturismo in Tuscany.