Andrew Kirschner, Executive Chef

Executive Chef Andrew Kirschner, 35, has been cooking for most of his life. Throughout high school and college he worked in a variety of restaurants, learning first hand at an early age how the restaurant business operates.

After graduating from the University of Colorado, Andrew moved to Aspen, and began his culinary career with stints at the Ajax Tavern and Krabloonik. After a few years of cooking (and snowboarding) in Colorado, he enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, and while studying continued his kitchen work at Arnold Wong’s Pacific Rim restaurant EOS. Upon graduation, Wong appointed him Sous Chef of the famed Cole Valley eatery. Finally returning to his native Los Angeles, armed with a classical education and a myriad of influences, Andrew began to ply his trade in renowned Southern California kitchens such as Joe’s, Chadwick and Lucques. Before coming to Wilshire, Andrew served as Govind Armstrong’s Chef de Cuisine at Table 8.

The Wilshire menu reflects the whole of Kirschner’s experience: his food is creative, diverse, playful as his personality, and ultimately grounded in his devotion to sound methodology and top-quality ingredients. As S. Irene Virbila wrote in her review of Wilshire in the Los Angeles Times, “Kirschner's assured, effortless-seeming cooking is a breath of fresh air. He's blessed with not only a good palate, but also a good eye. And he can execute, which makes him a triple threat.” Virbila awarded the restaurant with three stars, one month after Kirschner’s promotion to Executive Chef.

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