Robby Kukler, Steve Simon and Kris Reinhard, the three partners behind Fifth Group Restaurants, have hired Jonathan Beatty as executive chef of Ecco. Beatty was most recently the executive chef of Davanti Enoteca in Chicago, where he was awarded “2011 Best New Chef” and played an integral role in the restaurant earning the title of “Best New Restaurant” from Chicago Magazine.
Inspired by his mother, who he calls an “amazing cook,” and a year spent in Italy “eating real Italian food,” Beatty enrolled in the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan after college. After graduating, he completed several internships and stages at Le Bernardin, Daniel and Felidia. Beatty also worked at ESCA in New York under James Beard award-winner Dave Pasternack before moving to Chicago. Beatty worked at critically acclaimed restaurants, including The Purple Pig, which was named one of the 10 best new restaurants in America by Bon Appétit while he was there.
