Chef, The Commissary

Former executive chef at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (Texas’ only five-star, five-diamond hotel), John Tesar has spent more than 20 years overseeing the kitchens of many critically-acclaimed restaurants  such as New York’s 44 & X Hell’s Kitchen, Vine, 13 Barrow Street, The Supper Club and The Inn at Quogue in the Hamptons.

As executive chef of rm restaurant, Tesar was responsible for food and beverage operations for celebrity chef Rick Moonen’s 15,000 square foot Las Vegas restaurant, including an intimate 80-seat dining room fashioned after the original three-star rm restaurant in New York. Tesar first joined Moonen in the New York restaurant before moving west in 2005 to assist with the Las Vegas location. He has served as personal chef for high-profile clients, such as Giorgio Armani and Mariah Carey.

After pursuing a liberal arts degree at New York University, Tesar moved to Paris for classical French culinary training at the prestigious La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine. He returned to the Hamptons and ventured into his first foray as chef-owner at the three-star Hampton Square Restaurant. New York magazine food critic Gael Green called him “a bright new talent in a city already bursting with talent.”

Tesar has served as guest chef at James Beard House five times. He has appeared on The Today Show, Ready Set Cook, Chef du Jour and Good Day New York. He has also been named a Top Rated American Chef in the Zagat Restaurant Survey.