From smoked lamb in Texas to olive oil in Portugal, the award-winning chef shares the flavors, memories, and rituals that continue to shape his cooking.
From smoked lamb in Texas to olive oil in Portugal, the award-winning chef shares the flavors, memories, and rituals that continue to shape his cooking.
Chef John Courtney has cooked everywhere from Michelin-starred kitchens to championship television competitions, earning recognition for bold flavors, technical precision, and a relentless curiosity about food. This summer, he’ll bring that same passion to Telluride Reserve Food & Wine Festival.
New to John Courtney? Learn more about his culinary journey, restaurants, awards, and festival appearances on his John Courtney Collaborator Profile before diving into the interview.
But away from the restaurant, another side of John emerges.
The meals become simpler. The pantry becomes more personal. The stories behind the ingredients matter just as much as the techniques used to prepare them.
Ahead of the festival, we sat down with Chef John Courtney to talk about the dishes he cooks at home, the pantry staples he never runs out of, the restaurants that changed him, and why a frozen peanut butter cup still has a permanent place in his freezer.
Featured Chef: John Courtney
Festival: Telluride Reserve Food & Wine Festival
Favorite Restaurant: Whiskey Soda Lounge, Portland
Current Obsession: Smoked lamb over Texas-style barbecue
Pantry Staple: Fish sauce, soy sauce, and multiple vinegars
Guilty Pleasure: Frozen Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Current Soundtrack: Bad Bunny, classical, hip-hop, and metal
Ask John what he’d cook for his favorite person and he doesn’t start with a recipe.
He starts with a question.
“Who’s walking through the door?”
If it’s his mom, dinner couldn’t be simpler.
Roast chicken. Potatoes. Broccoli.
Comfort over complexity.
No ego. Just familiarity.
But when fellow chefs like Joe Campbell, Jonah Kim, or Jarrett Wrisley come over, dinner becomes something entirely different.
Recently that meant an afternoon gathered around the smoker with ribs, collard greens, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and one dish that’s become a permanent part of every barbecue he hosts.
Smoked lamb.
The inspiration came from Barb’s B Q in Lockhart, Texas, after legendary pitmaster Mad Jack introduced him to smoking whole racks of lamb.
“Now whenever I barbecue, I always throw a couple racks of lamb in the smoker.”
The meal keeps growing from there.
Fresh cornbread finished with honey butter while it’s still hot. Huckleberry hand pies. Big flavors meant to be shared around a table.
The only rule?
Tomorrow has to be different.
“Sunday dinner to Monday dinner… I can’t do the same thing twice.”
The soundtrack changes as often as the menu.
Lately it’s been Bad Bunny, inspired by an upcoming trip to Puerto Rico.
Tomorrow it could be classical.
Or hip-hop.
Or metal.
Whatever matches the pace of the kitchen.
At home, though, the silence sometimes feels unusual.
“I’m used to hearing the hum of the ovens.”
After years in professional kitchens, even quiet has become part of the rhythm.
Every chef has ingredients they simply refuse to live without.
For John, they’re less about luxury than versatility.
Fish sauce.
Soy sauce.
Several kinds of vinegar.
Sesame oil.
Dried anchovies.
Dark chocolate.
Then there’s one item nobody expects.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Always frozen.
Always Reese’s.
He’s shipped them overseas while cooking in France and packed them in suitcases for friends in Japan who had never tasted them before.
“It’s the fat kid in me.”
Some traditions never need improving.
One ingredient has quietly transformed John’s cooking in recent years.
Olive oil.
Time spent in Portugal introduced him to small producers pressing fresh oils beside family vineyards.
“You’ll see thirty hectares of grapes… and then ten of olives right next to it.”
The oils felt greener.
Fresher.
More expressive.
Italian olive oils still have a place in his kitchen.
Cultured butter always will.
But Portugal permanently raised the standard.
Choosing a favorite restaurant isn’t easy.
Ask about today, and John points toward Tamba in Las Vegas, where coastal Indian cuisine meets global technique.
Ask about all time, and there’s little hesitation.
Whiskey Soda Lounge in Portland.
Andy Ricker’s celebrated take on uncompromising Thai street food left an impression that still shapes the way John thinks about flavor.
He remembers the naem, a fermented pork and rice sausage wrapped in banana leaf before being grilled over flame and finished with an egg.
“One of the best things I’ve ever eaten.”
He remembers northern Thai fried chicken buried beneath an avalanche of lemongrass and garlic.
“There was so much lemongrass and garlic you had to pick through it just to get to the chicken.”
That was exactly the point.
Not polished.
Not restrained.
Simply unforgettable.
The world’s most memorable meals aren’t always the most elaborate.
Sometimes they’re remembered because they remind us of home.
Sometimes because they introduce us to somewhere entirely new.
For Chef John Courtney, inspiration comes from everywhere.
A smokehouse in Lockhart.
An olive grove in Portugal.
A Thai restaurant in Portland.
A frozen peanut butter cup waiting in the freezer after a long day.
Those experiences become ideas.
Those ideas become recipes.
Those recipes become stories shared around the table.
This summer, guests at Telluride Reserve Food & Wine Festival will experience the next chapter firsthand.
Whether it’s a perfectly prepared bite, an unforgettable conversation, or a new favorite ingredient, John’s cooking is a reminder that the best meals are about far more than what’s on the plate.
Chef John Courtney joins an extraordinary lineup of culinary talent at Telluride Reserve Food & Wine Festival, where guests experience intimate dinners, collaborative tastings, mountain adventures, and unforgettable moments shared around the table.
Some wineries begin with generations of vineyards.
Others begin with investors and business plans.
Innumero began with a joke.
Or at least, something close to one.
After spending the day tasting wine throughout Sonoma, Brian Thornsberry asked his oldest son, Jack, whether he and his wife Sheree should start a winery of their own.
Jack didn’t hesitate.
“Of course you should. You guys are above average people.”
Mentorship plays a vital role in shaping the careers of aspiring chefs, providing invaluable guidance and support. At La Marmotte, a fine-dining French restaurant nestled in the picturesque town of Telluride, Colorado, Chef de Cuisine Maggie DeMarco has cultivated a transformative externship program.
With the support of the restaurant’s owners, Josh and Melisa Klein, Chef Maggie has developed a mentorship program that fosters growth and empowers culinary students. Find out how La Marmotte works with Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts externs to prepare them for their future in the restaurant industry.