Suzanne Tracht | |
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Born | 1963 (age 59–60) |
Culinary career | |
Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
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Award(s) won
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Suzanne Tracht (born 1963) is an American chef. In 2002 Food & Wine named her to their Best New Chefs.
Tracht was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1963 and was raised there.[1][2] At 19 she began a three-year apprenticeship at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel with Siegbert Wendler.[3][4][5]
After her apprenticeship Tracht worked at the Westin Century Plaza and then the Hotel Bel-Air, where she worked with George Morrone. She moved to Noa Noa to become sous chef in 1991.[2]
In 1992 Tracht moved to Campanile, where she became chef de cuisine, working with Nancy Silverton and Mark Peel[3][6] and then opened Jozu as executive chef.[1][2] During her time at Jozu she worked with Preech Narkthong, who would become her chef de cuisine when she opened her first restaurant.[7]
Tracht opened Jar, an acronym for "just another restaurant", in 2001 in Los Angeles's Beverly Grove neighborhood with Peel.[6][3][8] The Wall Street Journal described it as "a modern take on a classic, 1940s-style chop house".[6] It is known for its pot roast and char siu pork.[7]
In 2007 Tracht opened Tracht's in Long Beach.[6] She closed it after a few years.[3]
According to the Wall Street Journal, Tracht "has become nationally known for her pot roast", which has been on the menu continuously since Jar and Tracht's opened.[6] In 2014, Jonathan Gold said, "She should be winning national awards, but she is content with making a great wedge salad and the best pot roast in town."[7] In 2022 Time Out called Jar "a dining institution" in Los Angeles.[7]
In 2002, after she opened Jar, Food & Wine named her one of their Best New Chefs.[1] In 2007 she was inducted into Nation's Restaurant News's Fine Dining Hall of Fame.[2]
Tracht has supported local food resource center SOVA and Project Angel Food, which delivers meals to people with serious illness.[9][4]