Chef Jason Welch Jason began as a Marine Biology major that started cooking to pay for grad school. After graduating in 2000 he went on to culinary school at the French Culinary Institute (FCI) in NYC and discovered his new passion of cooking. He wanted to go to where the best chefs in the country worked. Hired at Gotham Bar and Grill shortly after which was his real "schooling", as this was a legendary restaurant under the helm of Chef Alfred Portale. After almost two years in the city, he went on to work for Oran Mor Bistro and Craftsteak restaurants as sous chef, and also recurring roles as Executive Chef for Barcelona restaurant group based in CT. In CT he worked as the Chef de Cuisine at Mill at 2T in Tarrifville CT, an award winning restaurant and James Beard House participant, for almost a year and a half. After time spent at the Mill he went to Nantucket and was the Chef de Cuisine of Oran Mor Bistro for the last two seasons, which is consistently one of the top five restaurants on island. From the island to the mountains he became the Executive Chef of Turpin Meadow Ranch following the Nantucket years, and worked there for almost 3 years honing his craft and building relationships with local farms and ranchers. After years of traveling back east from the west, he decided to work primarily in CT, first helping to open Porron and Pina at the Goodwin Hotel with Chef Tyler Anderson, and then eventually taking over as Chef-Partner of Fork and Fire in his home town of Farmington, CT. A rewarding experience, unfortunately after a year the Covid pandemic ravaged the hospitality industry and his spirit to continue as a restauranteur. He decided to leave the business to begin a new journey as a photographer. However in the spring of 2021 he began working at Sub Edge Farm in Avon as he has always been interested in seeing how the food he purchased for so many years was grown and raised. This eye opening experience opened his heart and soul, and ignited the flame to start cooking again! Inspired by the land and the vegetables that he was surrounded by, he has now developed his own cooking style and passion for the craft. He truly loves being in the kitchen, learning new techniques and of course creating new dishes....We are lucky to have discovered him and welcome him into the Weekend Kitchen family!
