Chef Sarah Pliner of Aviary - Biography

Chef Sarah Pliner attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon before she entered the culinary world. She is one third of the culinary trio behind Portland, Oregon’s Aviary. In the past twenty years, Pliner has cooked in restaurants from Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, Aquavit and Aldea in New York City to the Heathman in Portland. Pliner has held positions including sous chef, chef de partie, chef de cuisine, and executive chef. Pliner is a self-trained cook who drew on both experience and culinary mentors like Philippe Boulot of Heathman who urged her to travel to New York to expand her culinary knowledge. She also counts Michael Clancy, a former chef at Giorgio’s, among her mentors. With a strong French culinary training, she is drawn to clean flavors with disciplined technique at Aviary. She met her partners there, Jasper Shen and Katherine Whitehead while working in New York.