Brian Bistrong, Executive Chef/ Owner

With his simple, straightforward and ingredient driven culinary style, Brian Bistrong combines a lifelong passion for cooking and over 15 years spent working alongside of some of New York’s most celebrated chefs.

When he was just 15 and working in the orchards at his hometown turkey farm outside of Princeton, NJ, something clicked for Brian Bistrong and he knew then that he wanted to be surrounded by food. Even as early as high school, his hunger for culinary exposure, led him to exhaust his school’s limited food curriculum by taking every food studies class they offered.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America with honors in 1989, Bistrong’s ardent commitment to his chosen career took him to Boston University’s School of Hospitality. When he wasn’t attending classes, he was working under Odette Berry, whom he credits with setting the tone for his developing culinary style. Berry owned the Boston restaurant Another Season and is often counted among the "true pioneers of the modern culinary movement." She introduced Bistrong to the notions of locality and seasonality long before it was in vogue.

Bistrong graduated Cum Laude from BU in 1991 and headed to New York to start working for Gray Kunz at Lespinasse. After two years, his curiosity led him to seek out Amy Scherber, owner of Amy’s Bread, from whom he learned the subtle nuances of bread baking before joining the team at Restaurant Bouley as saucier. Thus began a meaningful, long-term and incredibly influential relationship with David Bouley, which took Bistrong through nearly every facet of his growing enterprise. In January of 1999, he became chef de cuisine at Bouley Bakery.

After nearly seven years with Bouley, Bistrong moved to northern California to accept an Executive Chef position at Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. The signature restaurant Navio received considerable accolades during his one-and-a-half year tenure. He returned to New York as executive chef at Citerella, the offshoot of the successful New York stores.

As the executive chef of The Harrison, Bistrong felt he was given the freedom to create his own dishes and develop a more personal style. He proved himself a reliable innovator with dishes like his critically-acclaimed Biscuits and Gravy, which succinctly married New England and Southern styles with clam-laden gravy and scallion-studded biscuits. Bistrong spent just over three years at The Harrison before deciding to pursue his long time dream of opening his own restaurant, Braeburn.

At Braeburn, Bistrong hopes to further refine and finesse the individual style he solidified while at the Harrison. His menu is largely based on comfort and warmth, but transcends the traditional confines of "comfort food."

When asked what he most hopes to accomplish, Bistrong decidedly says, "I want to create dishes that people crave and can’t stop thinking about until they come for more."