James Taylor
James Taylor knew was drawn to restaurants at an early age and upon finishing high school,
enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu College of Chicago. Upon finishing his Associate’s degree, he took his first job at a Bavette’s Bar and Boeuf(Hogsalt Hospitality), a popular Chicago steakhouse.
After three years of training within the company, he accepted a position
as the opening Executive Sous Chef at Roister, a one Michelin star restaurant owned by The Alinea Group. At Roister he became the head of purchasing and training of new hires, while working under leaders with much Michelin star experience on menu development and guest experience enhancement.
After two years at Roister, he was offered a promotion as Chef De Tournant at Alinea, a three Michelin star restaurant, where he would continue to work closely with high-level chefs, Front of the House staff, reservationists, and Sommeliers to ensure the highest-level dining experience. At Alinea James took the lead for Back of the House purchasing, HR coordination; interviewing, hiring and training new BOH staff, all while maintaining the three Michelin star standards.
In March of 2021, James took his passion for cooking, hospitality, and fine-dining, and ventured out on his own, working to obtain private clients across the US. During this move, he connected with his partners in Miami where they decided they wanted to work towards opening a restaurant. Now almost three years later, they are coming up on the finish line of the construction for the restaurant and hope to be unveiling The Joyce in March of 2024.
