Taylor Pagano

Executive Sous Chef of Ethan Stowell Restaurants

Taylor spent the first 13 years of his life growing up in his family’s restaurant. He took a liking to cooking very young and pursued every avenue he could—in high school he even represented the state of Michigan in a national high school culinary competition through Skills USA. His father was a graduate of the CIA, so he naturally followed in his foot steps and spent a couple years in New York. He did a fair amount of moving around trying to see and experience as much as he could until he finally landed on the eastside helping some friends in the early years of their now thriving restaurant. After a short summer in Alaska, Taylor was hired at Staple & Fancy. He has since served as the chef at Tavolàta on Capitol Hill, Executive Chef for the How to Cook a Wolf brand, and is now the Executive Sous Chef for Ethan Stowell Restaurants.

Hometown

Grand Rapids, MI

First Restaurant Job

My family's Italian restaurant

Last Restaurant Job

Seasonal Chef Table in Alaska

Alternate Universe Career

MLB Pitcher

Favorite Late Night Snack

Sandwich

Best Meal Ever

I'm not sure I have experienced it yet. However, any meal surrounded with friends and family is always a stunner!

After Work Hangout

Rabbit Hole (most recently)

Favorite Seattle Restaurants

Din Tai Fung, Kedai Makan, Kizuki Ramen, Il Corvo

Food Philosophy

Keep things simple. Refer to the old classics re-inspired with ingredients that are locally and seasonally available, using strong cooking fundamentals to give respect to the dish and the ingredients used.

Restaurant Pet Peeve

Laziness, no one is too good to do any job that a restaurant demands.

What do you love about Seattle?

It's an hour drive to basically any activity you could enjoy doing outside. For me fishing, hunting, hiking, foraging, etc.

Favorite Place In The World

Haven't been there yet, but Alaska might be in the running.

Memorable Kitchen Disaster

One time I was picking up 350 pounds of live lobster early in the morning in NYC, and for whatever reason they were poorly packed on the pallet that day—so by the time I got to the restaurant and opened the door, lobsters dumped on to the streets of Manhattan and ended up chasing some joggers!