Jonathan Landeen – Chef/Owner Jonathan’s Cork
Chef Jonathan Landeen, a staple in the Tucson restaurant scene for more than 40 years, is known as much for his iconic mustache and chef’s hat as he is for the escargots, venison, ostrich, farm-raised Scottish salmon, liver and onions, and bison that are unavailable elsewhere.
His namesake endeavor, Jonathan’s Cork, is in its 26th year and pairs his signature comfort food from game to seafood and lots of Angus beef.
The Nebraska native came to Tucson as a youngster when his physician father set up a practice here. After attending the University of Wyoming and the University of Arizona, he drove a beer truck for Finley Distributing, with short stints with Grant Road Lumber and Falstaff Beer before moving to Flagstaff to work for United Liquor.
He went to New Orleans working at Commander’s Palace where the famous late Paul Prudhomme was the chef. Back in Tucson in the late 1970s to help open Charles Restaurant, he then cooked at the Lodge at Ventana Canyon and for 10 years at the Solarium before buying the Cork in 1994.
