Board Secretary, Founding Chef
Chef and Owner, Lula Café and Marisol; Jean Banchet Award Winner
Jason Hammel is the chef and owner of Lula Café in Chicago’s historic Logan Square and Marisol Restaurant at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Hammel is the recipient of the Jean Banchet 2018 Chef of the Year award and a James Beard Best Chef Great Lakes finalist. A twenty-year farm-to-table institution, Lula Cafe has been recognized by Eater’s “Essential 38” and the Michelin Guide. Opened in 1999, Lula is known as a harbinger of the local foods movement and– through its hyper-seasonal menus– an expression of restless, artistic change.
Hammel is also a founding member of Pilot Light, a not-for-profit, chef-centered organization that is writing a food-based curriculum for Chicago Public Schools. Through his work in education and in the kitchen at Lula, Hammel seeks to bring community, creativity, nourishment, and purpose back to the table around which we all sit.