Adam Melonas

Adam Melonas
Born (1981-11-10) 10 November 1981
Canberra, Australia
Education

Melba High Technology School (1993-1996)

Hyatt Hotel Working Apprentice (1996–1999)

Progressive Cuisine (Self Taught)
Website http://www.chewinnovation.com

Culinary career

Cooking style Progressive Cuisine

Adam Melonas (born 10 November 1981 in Canberra, Australia) is an Australian chef of Greek heritage. He currently is the founder and CEO of Chew LLC - a food innovation lab in Cambridge, MA.

Biography

Adam Melonas is a seasoned veteran of the culinary world. Over the last twenty years, he has pushed the limits of experimental and progressive cuisine with restaurants in five countries. And now, he has set his sights on the consumer packaged goods industry.

Armed with an eclectic background in food and culture, Adam left his native Australia at the age of 19 to get his start as Executive Chef at Otto’s - a fine dining restaurant in London. From there, he went on to be the Chef De Cuisine at the Shangri la Hotel in Dubai, the Head Chef of Jade on 36 in Shanghai, the Chef De Cuisine of Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and the Culinary Director of the Lab at La Terraza del Casino (El Bulli Group) in Madrid.

Adam has developed, manufactured and launched 47 products across many international markets. He was the Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder of Unreal Brands (Unjunked Candy) and developed many different product categories for The Australian Chia Co. Adam also developed and manufactured concepts for IKEA.

In 2013, Adam founded Chew, a food innovation lab that redefines what is possible in the world of packaged food by creating game-changing food products that are not only delicious, but also nutritious and sustainable. In the last 2 years Adam has scoured the food world to find the most talented and passionate food scientists and chefs to join the team, 2 years later the Chew team is now approaching 30 members and 2 separate labs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Chew partners with companies of all sizes to turn an inkling of an idea into something unbelievable in a matter of days or weeks. Adam and the Chew Team bring a chef mentality to the start-up culture. His passion for giving people better options in the grocery store has not only inspired the innovation lab, but also some of the world’s leading food companies.

One of Melonas' signature preparations is an edible floral center piece named the "Octopop": a very low temperature cooked octopus fused using Transglutaminase, dipped into an Orange and saffron Carrageenan Gel and suspended on Dill flower stalks.

Company

Adam founded Chew LLC in 2013. Chew draws on both the culinary and food science worlds in order to make game-changing food products for the consumer package goods industry. Chew's products focus on taste, nutrition, and sustainability while still being profitable and scalable.

Chew is founded on the belief that in order to create lasting and meaningful change, this has to be industry-led versus policy. In this new world that we are working to create, “Delicious” and “Nutritious” are no longer mutually exclusive notions.

Collaborations

IKEA asked Adam to design tapas for them to put on their restaurant menus throughout all Spanish and Portuguese stores.

Adam has worked in partnership with Miele to develop and refine equipment for the kitchen.

Accolades

During his tenure there, Jade on 36 was voted amongst the "Top 50 best restaurants in the world" by Condé Nast.

As a result of his work, the Al Mahara restaurant in the Burj al Arab hotel, Dubai has been voted Number 23 - Best Restaurant in the World, and Number 18 - Top Hotel Restaurant in the World.

La Terraza del Casino at the Casino de Madrid was awarded the second Michelin star on 25 November 2009.

Media

See also

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, October 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.