Creative Types: Jonathan Searle

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At the ripe age of 33, Jonathan Searle has earned the highly regarded position of executive chef at 21c Museum Hotel Lexington restaurant, Lockbox. His rise to that coveted culinary role has been a quick one compared to many chefs attaining that designation.

A 2007 transplant from central Ohio, Searle’s culinary career began at Lexington hot spot Bourbon n’ Toulouse, under the direction of Will Pieratt and Kevin Heathcoat. Putting his newly found passion for cooking to the test, Searle followed his stint at B-n-T with two downtown restaurant jobs, as a line cook job at Bellini’s and sous chef at Dudley’s. He eventually set his sights on a bigger market, moving to Louisville in 2011, where he cooked with some respected heavyweights of that culinary world: Ed Lee at 610 Magnolia, and Michael Paley and Levon Wallace at 21c Louisville’s Proof on Main restaurant, where he started in 2011.

While those restaurants were decidedly high profile, Searle admits that his entry-level positions at both places were not.

“It was back to the bottom,” he said. “It was a humbling thing, but every executive chef has been a line cook or sous.” Searle quickly rose to executive sous chef at Proof on Main, however, helping to earn prestigious accolades for the restaurant.

Among other things, Searle said his work at the popular downtown Louisville restaurant taught him about pace.

“Derby week is the biggest, most volume, insane service week,” Searle said. He points to Levon Wallace, the executive chef under whom he worked in the latter part of his tenure there, as a significant source of inspiration and influence.

“Levon Wallace was a mentor,” Searle said. “His level of professionalism in the kitchen is where I decided I wanted my own [kitchen].”

In preparing for his job at the Lockbox, Searle spent three months in Durham, North Carolina, last year, just after 21c opened its doors in that city. Valuable experience was gained by cutting his teeth on equipment very similar to Lockbox, but being executive sous chef in Durham taught Searle leadership lessons – how to grow a staff that wants to be there – as well as culinary tricks.

“When people are on board, things tend to come together better,” he said.

As for his current leadership style, Searle said, he is “on [his] way.”

“I grew up in the business with the old school, French approach – be firm and hard all the time. But I think that a level of humanity, kindness and approachability is not only needed in this day, but makes people like to be around more,” he said. “There is still a firmness, and things have to be done absolutely right, but I don’t think you have to scream at people and belittle them.”

An appreciation for community has been instilled in Searle since was a kid. Surrounded by family in central Ohio as a child, his grandparents were from Appalachian West Virginia and brought rural, food-centric Sundays to the family table.

“We gathered on Sundays to eat, which encouraged us to gather throughout the week at Grandma’s house,” he said. “We had big meals together. My grandpa would cook Cajun and Creole food out of his worn-out Paul Prudhomme book.

There was German influence, so we would eat cabbage rolls – hobby cooking turned into the way we ate.”

Cajun and Creole continue to have an important role in Searle’s cooking. “I love the French touch, but some of the best cooking is done from poverty,” he said. “It’s cliché, but things had to come from need and making cheap things beautiful and tasty. I’ve always been inspired by that idea.”

Influenced by both necessity and unusual suspects, the chef keeps his eye on chefs breaking out of smaller markets.

“I look to places like Birmingham, Memphis and Oxford, where they are faced with challenges of a smaller community and how they make great restaurants that run on caliber with anything in New York,” he said. “There are plenty of wonderful, well-rounded things being done in the smaller markets. That inspires me.”

The menu at Lockbox highlights American Southern cuisine with a focus on the Bluegrass region – not only with ingredients, but with the style of food as well. Searle refers to it as “Southern by way of Kentucky.”

“The expectation of a chef is to locally source. It is a responsibility to use food from local providers,” he said. “We are cooking where we are at – we cook Kentucky food.”

Aptly named for the nostalgic roots of the First National Bank building, Lockbox is an ode to the bank vault that houses a private dining area off the main dining area called The Safe. Searle is building a consistent team and service, with 17 kitchen staff and an overall team of 50, including dining room staff. For the most part, he keeps his head down, focused on getting the plates right and building new favorites.

Searle is mindful of keeping favorites on the menu – like the standard roasted chicken with black lentils – while accommodating for the addition of seasonal touches as well. A fan of Hispanic food, Searle’s “Masa Gnocchi” dish – tiny dumplings made with masa, served with braised meats, chiles and topped with house-made buttermilk queso fresco – is a nod to Hispanic cuisine.

A late-night menu for the bar and lounge area features shareable items, including a local cheese plate with seasonal accompaniments, and a popular dish titled “In Jars,” featuring pimento cheese, chicken liver mousse and pickled vegetables with house-made saltines and buttermilk biscuits.

While Searle doesn’t spend much time outside of his kitchen these days, he has enjoyed a few meals around town, with notables including nachos at County Club and burritos at Ramirez Tortilleria y Taqueria. He plans to come up for air near summer time, and in his few moments of free time he recharges with sitcoms and vinyl records.

“I haven’t been to CD Central since returning to Lexington,” he said. “It’s on my list.”

In choosing a culinary path that could have taken him a number of directions, Searle chose Lexington.

“I love this place,” he said. “People talk about the boomerang effect of this town. Even when I left and went to Louisville, this always felt like home.

“The people were embracing from day one,” he added. “You find a neighborhood that you become a regular, like Chevy Chase. It quickly felt like home. You can’t manufacture that environment. It’s organic.”

Creative Types is a new editorial series produced by Smiley Pete Publishing in partnership with Creative Lexington, a local initiative that connects the public with Lexington’s arts community through professionally produced “snapshot bio” videos that highlight local artists and other creative types. cc

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