The Chef Who Traded the Golf Course for the Multi-Course

Before his knives, chef Soo Ahn was focused on his clubs. “I was a professional golfer—I had played my whole life,” he says. But when constant travel and tournaments began to take a toll, the Dallas native explored a different kind of vocation—this time, in restaurants. “In the beginning I was doing front-of-house work—serving and bartending—and I really enjoyed it,” he recalls. “I decided to take the leap and try culinary school.” After graduating with a culinary arts degree from Johnson and Wales, the chef moved to Chicago to work at EL Ideas before moving onto roles in some of the city’s most prominent kitchens, including Grace, The Ritz-Carlton, and Band of Bohemia (where he maintained the restaurant’s Michelin star but left his post, citing a toxic work culture). Now he’s executive chef of just-opened Adalina, a Gold Coast restaurant featuring contemporary Italian plates (think cacio e pepe arancini and truffled Caesar salad for two). Here, Ahn shares more about the menu creation process, why kind leadership reigns, and how, when it comes to golf and cooking alike, one characteristic is key.

How would you describe your approach to the menu at Adalina?

I stick to the traditional flavors of Italian cuisine but I try to give my dishes what I like to call “the Soo twist.” Lately, I’ve called upon ingredients and techniques from my past that I think will work particularly well for the cuisine we’re doing here. I have an amazing team—our chef de cuisine has a tremendous Italian background, so we’re always working with regional ingredients and ideas. We like to have a lot of fun with it.

What’s an example of this that diners can try?

There’s a Chinese cooking technique I have used in the past to make a chili crisp, and we applied that same approach to the mafaldine pasta. We take canola oil, add some garlic to it, heat it, and pour it over a mixture of herbs and spices. We let the ingredients steep in the oil, then use it all as a sauce for the pasta. It’s one of those special items on the menu that may read a bit strange in its flavor combination, but when people try it, they love it.

What other dishes are you particularly excited about right now?

Our spinach cannelloni is a really fun one. We make a spinach dough that we fill with goat cheese, ricotta, parmesan, pecorino, and a little bit of blanched spinach. We place it atop a layer of Pomodoro verde, which we make with green tomatoes for a bit more body and acidity. Any excess pasta we bake off with parmesan cheese into chips, then add fonduta on top of it all. There’s a great balance happening in the dish’s richness and acidity, and in its textures.

Earlier you mentioned the idea of a “Soo twist.” How would you define this?

As chefs, it’s rare that we are fully satisfied with the dishes that we put up, so we're constantly tweaking things. My team and I right now are always adjusting and adapting our work. That might be the Soo twist—the act of constant striving to make a dish better in some way, shape, or form.

What, for you, does successful leadership look like?

I came up in the whole kitchen brigade system, where the executive chefs were revered as gods—where you don't even want to step on their shadows. I’d been in kitchens like that for much of my training and career, but it wasn’t me. I’ve always wanted to be more approachable in my work—I like the idea of having an open-door policy with those who work with me. I’ve always said, “If you want to learn, just come in early and we’ll do it together.” Accolades are great, but at the same time, a healthy kitchen culture is key. When your team is happy in the kitchen, they’re coming in hungry to learn and they’re not scared to make mistakes. I think that translates to the food; I truly believe the guests can taste that.

Have any lessons from your career in golf helped to inform your work in restaurants?

Hard work beats talent any day, and nothing is ever given to you. It hasn’t been in my culinary career, and it wasn’t in golf, either—I was always practicing more than the guy next to me, and I try to do the same in my role as a chef. For me, it’s about coming in earlier than everyone else, staying longer, and seeing what more I can do to help me advance in my endeavors. That is definitely something I have taken with me from my golf experience.

Who is a culinary role model for you?

My grandma. Whenever she was cooking and I was at her dinner table, I felt like I was in the right place—like I was meant to be there, and that she was meant to be there. I feel similarly now with my team—like we are meant to be working alongside one another and putting out the food that we are. It’s just one of the reasons she continues to inspire me.

Veal chop parmigiana photo at top by Galdones Photography.