Ken Oringer Biography
Ken Oringer is a Boston-based chef and Jamie Bissonnette’s business partner. He was named one of People Magazine’s Hottest Bachelors in 2002.
How old is Ken Oringer? – Age
He is 58 years old as of 2023. He was born in 1965 in Paramus, New Jersey, United States.
Ken Oringer Education
Oringer received a bachelor’s degree in restaurant management from Bryant College in Rhode Island (class of 1987), followed by a master’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. His peers voted him the Most Likely to Succeed.
Ken Oringer Wife
He is married to Celine Gould. The couple has two children; a daughter Verveine Oringer and a son Luca Oringer. Ken can be seen traveling the world with his family when he is not working in one of his restaurants.
Ken Oringer Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $2 Million.
Ken Oringer Restaurant
Oringer and his partner Jamie Bissonnette founded Little Donkey, a “global tapas” restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2016.
Ken Oringer Career
Chef Ken, one of Boston’s most well-known chefs and restaurateurs, first became interested in restaurants as a child in New Jersey. Ken’s young interest grew into the beginnings of his restaurant career as a teenage dishwasher in a local restaurant, captivated by his family’s early dining experiences at New York City’s numerous restaurants. Ken went back to his roots in the food industry after earning his undergraduate degree at Bryant University in Rhode Island. He worked under Chef David Burke at River Café in New York City before returning to New England to work as the pastry chef at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, and Le Marquis de Lafayette in Boston.
In 1992, Ken moved to San Francisco to work as Chef de Cuisine at Silks, a well-known restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. His distinctive Asian-accented style and talent for making the most of cutting-edge ingredients gained him attention at Silks. The Zagat Survey and Gourmet both praised Silks, which was dubbed “one of the top twenty restaurants in America” by Traveler magazine.
Ken moved back to Boston in 1997 to open Clio, a classy restaurant in The Eliot Hotel that serves a contemporary French-American menu that combines an artistic, Asian-inspired approach with formal training. Inside the main year, Clio was named “Best Rookie of the Year” by Connoisseur magazine and made John Mariani’s regarded rundown of “America’s Best New Eateries” in Esquire. Ken was nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northeast four times in a row due to the early success of Clio. In the end, he won the award for Best Chef Northeast in 2001. Clio was named one of Connoisseur magazine’s “Main 50 Eateries in America” that very year.
In 2002, Ken opened Uni in the parlor of Clio; an imaginative sashimi bar offering the freshest fish from Tokyo’s Tskuji market as well as nearby angler. The Boston Herald gave Uni four stars, and Boston magazine named it “Best Sashimi” in 2005 for its innovative and creative take on sashimi and Japanese fusion cuisine. In the same year, Ken opened Toro, a tapas restaurant in Boston’s South End that was inspired by Barcelona and his travels throughout Spain.
Coppa, an Italian-style enoteca that featured Italian wines, an experimental cocktail list, and an inventive menu that showcased Ken’s fearlessness with ingredients and his drive to constantly take risks, was opened in November 2009 by Ken and Chef Jamie Bissonette of Toro. Ken has since extended beyond Boston with Earth at Stowed away Lake in Kennebunkport, Maine (2011) and a second area of Toro in New York City (2013), both gathering basic recognition.
In 2015, Ken pursued the choice to update and redesign his lead, Clio, and resume as an extended UNI idea. Clio was renowned for its use of exotic ingredients, cutting-edge techniques, and dramatic presentations after 19 years in Boston’s Back Bay. Ken was prepared for change with an eye toward innovation, a drive to push boundaries, and the inspiration he had gained from his travels around the world.
Ken reopened UNI in the beginning of 2016 following the conclusion of the Clio service. Changing from a small, dark sashimi bar into a big restaurant that serves creative Japanese food using the freshest seafood from Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji market, local New England catch, and exotic flavors from around the world inspired by street food. Innovative sashimi, Nigiri and Maki-style sushi, and plates based on street food and contemporary Japanese cuisine are all new additions to the new UNI.
With Chef Partner Jamie Bissonnette, Oringer opened Little Donkey in Cambridge’s Central Square in the summer of 2016. This was Oringer’s next step, taking his love of international cuisine across the river. The universally propelled tapas café was met with energy from local people and guests the same, procuring Boston Magazine’s Best New Eatery title and Boston Globe’s Café of the Year in 2017.
In the same year, Toro Bangkok opened, and the duo opened Toro Dubai, their fourth international Toro concept. Under the direction of Executive Chef Brian Rae, the brand-new coastal Italian restaurant Faccia a Faccia was opened in Boston by Ken and Jaime Bissonnette in May 2022. Bar Pallino, which is just below Faccia a Faccia, features a comprehensive wine list compiled by renowned beverage director Jodie Battles.