2015 Featured Chef: Chris Coombs
August 3, 2015
Chef Christopher Coombs
Boston Urban Hospitality
Owner & Executive Chef
Christopher Coombs fell in love with the hospitality industry on his first day of work in a local seafood restaurant on the North Shore of Boston. He came to pursue an education at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, which is where Coombs’s true talent began to shine. He got his first taste of upscale dining at Blue Ginger working under award-winning Chef Ming Tsai. He then headed to Nantucket to work for Toppers at the Wauwinet. He soon met Executive Chef Patrick O’Connell, who brought him to work at The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia. He had the honor to prepare special dinners for Laura Bush at The White House and for “Le Club des Chefs de Chef.”
With much experience under his belt and a new perspective on cuisine, Coombs returned to Boston in 2005. In August of 2006, Coombs came in contact with Brian Piccini, owner of dbar, who presented his concept of a trendy and casual upscale restaurant in Dorchester. The duo joined forces with a focus on fresh, local, seasonally inspired menus. To further improve sustainability, he added a rooftop garden at dbar to grow his own fresh ingredients.
Coombs opened his first restaurant, Deuxave, in 2010, where the cuisine is strongly rooted in the nouvelle techniques of contemporary French cuisine married with the splendor of American ingredients. In early 2013, he debuted his third concept, Boston Chops, with business partner Brian Piccini. The urban steak bistro is a departure from traditional steakhouses. Coombs presents a menu with a nose-to-tail approach of the cow, which includes small plates of rarely celebrated cuts. At any of his venues, Coombs focuses on providing a dining experience that is both sophisticated in taste, yet casual and comfortable in setting.
Since opening Deuxave, his success has been grabbing the attention of both local and national media. Coombs has had an appearance on Food Network’s Chopped and been recognized by Food & Wine magazine as a candidate for the People’s Best New Chef in New England. Coombs was recently honored as one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 awards. In March 2015, the Mass Restaurant Association named Chef Coombs as the MRA Restaurateur of the Year, the youngest recipient in history to receive that award.
We’re honored to have such a talented, young chef join us in Iowa for our Farmer Appreciation Dinner this year!
