Chef Rebecca Barron shares her lifetime passion with food
Chef Rebecca Barron sits at the helm of Chattanooga’s food world. The esteemed St. John’s Restaurant is undoubtedly a pillar of the culinary happenings of the Scenic City. Ooohs and ahhhs abound when you share the news of dining at the gastro-powerhouse.
For four years, Chef Barron has driven the cuisine of St. John’s. She is a multi-faceted culinarian with a lifelong passion for cuisine as both an art form and a vehicle for sustainability. In her 20’s, it was her goal to be an Executive Chef by age 30. With three months to spare, she upgraded the title on her chef’s coat and took the driver’s seat.
Rebecca had big shoes to fill. Her predecessor, Daniel Lindley received three nominations for the James Beard Award. Chef Barron honed her knife skills and culinary tact under Chef Hiroshi at his once thriving Main Street sushi restaurant. She studied the process of making food not only delicious, but visually stunning.
Over those four years, Barron has filled and outgrown those shoes. Her comestible prowess has kept St. John’s in the spotlight as a front-runner of the Southeast’s exploding food revolution.
Rebecca immerses herself in her passion. Her interests extend past her own kitchen. She recently spent four weeks in Thailand and India eating her way through some of Asia’s best and most exotic flavors. As Executive Chef, Rebecca is responsible for writing the ambitious and constantly changing seasonal menu.
“The only thing I can do is be my best. I can’t be someone else’s best. If I’m happy with what I’ve done and someone else likes it, that’s the best reward I could hope for,” she says.
Food is a sensory experience for Chef Barron. “I aim to be delicate. I don’t like when something doesn’t make you feel good. I want my food to evoke all of your senses.”
She is constantly excited about food and the process of creating dishes.
“I’ll walk around and see what we have. I’ll typically order seasonally fresh products from farmers without necessarily having a direction for them. I like to walk around and touch the food and try to find out what it wants to be.”
One of Rebecca’s favorite offerings, St. John’s prepares wine dinners where the chef works with Sommelier Michelle to create unique wine-focused dinners. The restaurant recently received a Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator.
Rebecca also has an eye for responsibility in her work. She prepares dinners at the Tennessee Aquarium to support sustainability in seafood.
She also loves the challenge: “It’s fun to cook in a place that has no kitchen. It pushes me to be really creative.”
Chef Barron has a long run of success in the kitchen. After everything that she’s learned, a simple and inspiring idea came to her in the middle of a 14 hour bus ride, deep in the Himalaya, sick from food poisoning, yet determined to strive on.
“You don’t have to go searching for peace. It’s already inside you.”