11. Chef Benjamin Smart- From Rocks to Recipes: An Award Winning Chefs Atypical Culinary Expedition Artwork

Table for Two

Pull up a chair at the Table for Two. Join Jessica Dunker, President and CEO, of the Iowa Restaurant Association, on a tour of the state and spend time with some of Iowa’s award winning restaurateurs, chefs and hospitality professionals. You’ll hear the stories, inspirations and even a few secrets, behind your favorite eating and drinking establishments. You’ll be surprised when you learn which high profile operators say they chose the industry, and which claim the industry chose them. We talk traditions and trends, tastes and tactics– with some of Iowa’s most innovative entrepreneurs. Our conversations will entertain patrons, enlighten operators, and leave everyone hungry for more. Subscribe to Table for Two on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.

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11. Chef Benjamin Smart- From Rocks to Recipes: An Award Winning Chefs Atypical Culinary Expedition

May 29, 2023 • Iowa Restaurant Association • Season 1 • Episode 11

When he’s developing menu items Chef Benjamin Smart, Culinary Director for one of Iowa’s most popular breweries keeps one thought in mind – people may come for the beer, but let’s get them to stay for the food. That approach appears to be working as the brewery has just broken ground on their fourth location in Iowa. Not a typical path for an award-winning chef, Smart earned a geoscience degree, but kept feeling called back to the kitchen. Encouraged by his wife and driven by his passion, Smart earned a culinary degree and carved an impressive culinary path that eventually brought him back to Iowa. Today he is a partner in one of the state’s most innovative and successful operating groups overseeing and mentoring the next generation of culinary talent.

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Jessica Dunker

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