John Hogan
Executive Chef

Executive Chef John Hogan brings a loyal following and numerous accolades to Tavern at the Park, his second restaurant venture with the Keefer and de Castro families. A beloved Chicago chef, Hogan is widely considered to be among the best craftsmen in the kitchen. He applies these well-honed techniques to create refined Chicago-style cuisine at Keefer’s and lively American comfort fare at Tavern at the Park. His work at Keefer’s has earned the restaurant glowing 3-star reviews from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, “Best New Restaurant” honors from Chicago magazine, “Best in Business Dining” accolades from Crain’s Chicago Business and a spot on Playboy’s “Top 10 Steakhouses in America”. Already, Tavern at the Park is being hailed as an exciting addition to the downtown Chicago dining scene.

Prior to his work at Keefer’s, Chef Hogan was best known for his restaurant Savarin, which opened in Chicago in fall 1998, and was named a “Best New Restaurant” by Esquire magazine in 1999 and one of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants” by Travel + Leisure. Chicago magazine’s 1999 Best New Restaurants issue raved: “This exhilarating new French restaurant is the best thing to hit the Chicago dining scene in the past year.” And wine and food expert Anthony Dias Blue declared in a review, “John [Hogan] is a born genius with savory, slow-roasted dishes that avoid all pretense and get right to the soul of French cuisine.”

Prior to opening Savarin, Hogan was executive chef of the Park Avenue Cafe in Chicago from 1996 to 1998. There he introduced a French-influenced menu, including several hearty, rustic dishes, and earned three-star reviews from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times and raves from Chicago Social magazine.

From 1990 to 1995, Hogan headed the kitchen at Kiki’s Bistro, which gave the chef the opportunity to showcase his personal style and favorite foods. During Hogan’s five-year reign, Kiki’s Bistro earned three-star ratings from both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, and the restaurant was named the favorite restaurant of Chicago chefs in a survey taken by Chicago magazine.

Prior to Kiki’s Bistro, Hogan cut his teeth at some of Chicago’s bastions of classic French cuisine, L’Escargot, Le Perroquet and Everest.

The virtually self-taught chef completed a short but intensive culinary program at the Dumas Père Cooking School in Glenview, Ill., where he learned basic techniques. In 1995, Hogan was among the first American chefs to be inducted into Euro Toques, a prestigious international group of chefs.