Mark Ladner is a

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

based chef and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

, who owns Bar Enza in

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...

Biography

Ladner was raised in

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...

Career

His first job was at Café Fiorella, also in Harvard Square. After graduating from

Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its cam ...

, he went to work for

Todd English William Todd English (born August 29, 1960) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality, based in Boston, Massachusetts. He hosted the TV cooking show, ''Food Trip with Todd English,'' on PBS. In 2005 he was a ...

at Olives. Ladner worked there with Marc Orfaly and

Barbara Lynch Barbara Lynch is a musician/singer/songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her first album, ''Goodbye and Goodluck'', was released by Duke Street Records Duke Street Records was a Canadian independent record label"Barren ground for Canada's ...

. He moved to Manhattan and became executive chef at

Del Posto Del Posto was a Michelin-starred fine dining Italian restaurant at 85 Tenth Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan owned by Lidia, Tanya, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. The restaurant received a Michelin star for many years. In the ...

until 2017. While there, he won a

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

for Best Chef in New York City and two Michelin Stars. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' gave the restaurant a four star review. While in NYC, Ladner also worked for Scott Bryan and

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Vongerichten (; ; born March 16, 1957) is a French-American chef.

. At Del Posto, he was known for his 100 layer lasagna.

Television

From 2003 to 2008, he served as

Mario Batali Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and former restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and ...

’s sous chef on ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

'' alongside

Anne Burrell Anne W. Burrell (September 21, 1969 – June 17, 2025) was an American chef, television personality, and instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. She was the host of the Food Network show '' Secrets of a Restaurant Chef'' and co-host ...

. When he appeared on

Beat Bobby Flay ''Beat Bobby Flay'' is an American cooking competition show on the Food Network. It features various chefs competing against Bobby Flay. The show is taped in front of a live audience. Format In the first round, two guests, often a celebrity ...

, he competed against Flay but Flay won.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladner, Mark Chefs from Massachusetts Johnson & Wales University alumni People from Belmont, Massachusetts American restaurateurs American chefs Living people Year of birth missing (living people)