Rising Star Chef Cole Dickinson of Ink - Biography

Cole Dickinson learned about mirepoix, stocks, and vinaigrettes from Emeril—on television as a kid growing up in California. He knew he wanted to cook from a very young age. Dickinson also wanted to make some money, so, at his mother’s suggestion he got a job as a fine-dining busboy in wine country. When Charlie Palmer opened an outpost in Sonoma, Dickinson bussed there until he “finally grew a pair” and asked for a job in the kitchen. Later, he traveled Europe and cooked for a short time at The Fat Duck.

At 21, Dickinson met his mentor, StarChefs.com Rising Star Chef Michael Voltaggio, at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. He worked closely with Voltaggio over the next six years at Hemisphere at the Greenbrier in West Virginia and Bazaar by José Andrés in Beverly Hills. Striking out on his own, Dickinson worked for Wolfgang Puck in private catering, traveling the world and cooking with him. After a stint with Laurent Gras at L20 in Chicago, Dickinson teamed up with Voltaggio again to open Ink, as the restaurant’s chef de cuisine. At Ink, he works tirelessly to cook personal, thoughtful, and wildly creative dishes. Dickinson has been named an Eater Young Gun and one of Zagat’s “30 under 30"; he also won Food Network’s “Chopped” in 2013.