Chef Paul Mitchell grew up twenty miles north of Boston, surrounded by acres of farmland filled with
fresh produce and the bounty of the Atlantic Ocean. Both his mother and grandmother were excellent
cooks, and they raised him to appreciate good ingredients and a well-prepared meal. After high school, Paul headed off to college to study history and political science. While working at a restaurant managed by a friend, he quickly realized that his academic curiosity and discipline would better serve him in the kitchen.

Paul enrolled in a culinary program in Philadelphia, PA, spending 2-1/2 weeks in France during the 19- month course. After graduating in 1995, he interned at The Four Seasons Hotel, under French master Jean-Marie LaCroix. Four years later, he had risen to the position of Saucier.

Across the country in San Diego, CA, Paul continued his education under French master Bernard Guillas and Patrick Ponsaty, a fifth-generation French chef. Then, he returned to Philadelphia and The Four Seasons for two more years, before leaving with Chef LaCroix to open his eponymous restaurant in the Rittenhouse Hotel.

Paul travelled cross-country again in 2003, this time to Portland, OR, where he worked under his third French master, Phillipe Boulot, at the Heathman Hotel.

A year later, he found a home at Meriwether’s where he was the Sous Chef and then the Chef. A
series of opportunities to consult, cook and travel in various parts of the world kept Paul occupied
between 2006 and April 2012, when John and Renee asked him to take the helm of the Meriwether’s
kitchen once again. His unpretentious style allows freshness and purity of ingredients he uses speak for themselves.