John Sundstrom
John Sundstrom began formal training at New England Culinary Institute, in Montpelier, Vermont, in 1987 and went on to complete the two-year program with honors and an associates degree. Prior to NECI, John apprenticed for 4 years to chef Yasuyuki Shigarami, classically trained in Japanese cuisine and sushi. After graduating from culinary school, John spent the next few years working in some of the country’s finest resort hotels, including; the 5-star Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Club XIX at the Lodge at Pebble Beach and Stein Ericksen Lodge.
He moved to Seattle in 1991, worked at raison d’etre, Campagne, and Café Sport, learning about local ingredients and meeting northwest farmers and foragers. He was Chef de Cuisine at Dahlia Lounge, working closely with owner Tom Douglas developing the restaurant to one of national prominence.
In March of 1999, John toured Japan, exploring, tasting and researching Japanese food and culture. In October and November of that year, he also went on a working tour of New York and San Francisco’s finest kitchens, a sort of “Culinary Graduate School”. Following these inspiring and educational travels, John returned to Seattle with a renewed sense of purpose, new ideas and techniques, and a greater understanding of excellence.
From Dahlia’s Pacific Rim ingredients to a stint at Carmelita, a vegetarian Mediterranean restaurant, and John began to invest in organic, foraged, and heirloom ingredients and flavors. In 2000, he happily reintroduced fish and meat to his repertoire when he took over at Earth & Ocean, and within 6 months John was named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef’s for 2001. In the 3 years that John was chef at Earth & Ocean, the restaurant thrived.
John has been featured on the Food Network’s “Best of“ Show and Bobby Flay’s ”Food Nation”. Also John was one of 13 chefs featured in the first season of the PBS original series “Chefs a-field”, which was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2003. In May of 2005, John was nominated for “Best Chef Northwest/Hawaii” by the James Beard Foundation in 2005 and 2006, and won the award in May of 2007.
John opened Lark in December 2003 on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, with his wife, JM Enos and partner Kelly Ronan. Lark is an artisan focused restaurant with serving dinner. In June of 2006, John and his partners opened Licorous (pronounced lick”er*us, from the Middle English, meaning; eager to enjoy, tempting to the appetite) next door to Lark. Licorous serves a small plates/tapas menu until late, and features house infused vodkas, gin, tequila, housemade bitters and a large selection of digestives, including amaros, eau de vies and grappas.
