Morgan Jarrett

STATE Grill & Bar

Chef Morgan Jarrett was born and raised in rural Texas where she learned an appreciation for the work that goes into raising and growing your own food. She went on to get a small start during college at The Grape Escape across from the famed Bass Hall Performing Arts Center in Fort Worth where she fell in love with kitchen life and found her calling. After completing her undergraduate degree she moved to NYC to attend the French Culinary Institute of American in Manhattan under the deans Jacque Pepin and Alain Sailhac.

Her first restaurant job in NYC was at a boutique neighborhood restaurant in Brooklyn, Seersucker, under the ownership of Chef Robert Newton and Kerry Diamond of Cherry Bombe Magazine and Radio Cherry Bombe. She went on to open several more concepts with the couple and honed in on true farm to table cooking and genuine neighborhood hospitality.

In her next chapter she really honed in on farm to table cooking at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden as the opening chef for Yellow Magnolia Café. While working directly with horticulturist at the Children’s Garden and Herb Garden she was able to coordinating planting, harvesting, and create special menus and events including the Annual Spring Gala and Cherry Blossom Festival.

Currently she helms the kitchen State Grill and Bar, the flagship restaurant at the Empire State Building. The Space that ESB sits on was once farmland and serves as inspiration for the restaurant today. With sustainability as a shared goal with the restaurant and the building she looks to modern agriculturalist to achieve those goals.  Partnerships with companies like Afterlife Mushrooms, who use full circle composting and urban farming practices, Marsh Hen Mills, and beehives located at ESB she is finding what farm to table looks like in today’s quickly evolving culinary landscape.