Chef Chad Rielander brings 35 years of restaurant experience to the table covering all aspects of restaurant operations, from humble beginnings in short order to multi course fine dining, from kitchen operations, to front of house management to building bar/wine/spirit programs.

Chad started his career in food working for his mom at a fast food restaurant at 16, then moved on to short order breakfast cooking at 18, gourmet pizza at 25. Shortly thereafter discovered his true passion for restaurants at Chet’s Taverna under the mentorship of Chef Michael Phillips. Here he learned the history and culture of restaurants while honing his Farm to Table cooking style. From here Chad worked under various other chefs gaining new knowledge and experience with each new mentor, until he opened his first restaurant in Kutztown Pennsylvania, Mad Cookin’. It was here that Chad had his first experience in building a new restaurant from the ground up as well as learned many valuable lessons in its eventual failure. This led Chad to begin studying the other aspects of the restaurant deeper. Having an excellent product does not always bring automatic success.

While he continued working in kitchens he began learning about proper service, wine, food cost, waste management, labor costs, and people management. Seeking further experience in his 30’s, Chad stepped out of the kitchen and stepped behind the bar as a bar tender and server which eventually led to becoming a bar and service manager. From there the next step in broadening his skill set came from an excursion into the corporate world, managing a multi unit operation in an airport. This provided him with strong corporate management training, and refined the business aspects of his knowledge. After realizing the corporate world was not for him, Chad went on to lead in various operations in positions ranging from Culinary Director, Food and Beverage Director, Curious Concessions Consigliere, and General Manager.