Executive Chef

Brad Farmerie grew up in Pittsburgh in a food-loving family. His mother, an avid home cook, exposed him to a variety of cuisines and insisted on home baked bread and vegetables straight from the family garden.

Farmerie enrolled at Penn State, intent on completing a degree in mechanical engineering. Two years into his studies it became apparent that the cooking he did to pay his tuition was the real source of his collegiate contentment. Thus he took a year-long hiatus from studying the principles of physics to exploring first-hand the cuisines and wines of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Antipodes.

One year turned to seven, and Farmerie’s culinary wanderings turned serious when he settled in the UK in 1996, earning a “Grande Diplome” at Le Cordon Bleu.  He further rounded out his education and technique at acclaimed restaurants such as Coast, Marco Pierre White’s Chez Nico and Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. Most influential to his own style was his experience working with Peter Gordon at the Sugar Club in 1996, then assisting Gordon and Anna Hansen in the opening of the critically-acclaimed The Providores and Tapa Room.

In 2003 Farmerie moved back to the States to head up the kitchen of the AvroKO-designed PUBLIC.  There, his creative, global approach was described by the New York Times as one that “swings for the fences with each and every dish” and Michelin awarded the restaurant a coveted star in the 2009 Red Guide.  2006 saw the opening of The Monday Room, a 20-seat wine bar inside of PUBLIC which Farmerie turned into a laboratory for his most creative dishes yet, designed expressly to pair with the Monday Room’s eclectic and adventurous wine selections.In the fall of 2008, Farmerie extended his culinary reach as executive chef of AvroKO’s long-awaited two-in-one project, Double Crown and Madam Geneva, which takes as its inspiration the unique cuisine that emerged when the British colonized the countries of South Asia and the Far East.

Chef de Cuisine

Christopher Rendell followed a steady path Westward from his native Australia to the kitchen of New York’s Double Crown and Madam Geneva, along the way working with some of the most esteemed names in the restaurant industry.

Rendell grew up in Melbourne, eating a hybrid cuisine comprised of dishes from his Russian mother’s repertoire and his English father’s traditional UK favorites. Rendell’s entree into the culinary field was a job at the local franchise of a national pancake operation; he started out as a dishwasher and within one year was running the chain’s flagship location.

Inspired by his love of the unlikely combination of efficiency and chaos in the kitchen as well as by Marco Pierre White’s iconic book, “White Heat,” Rendell looked for greater culinary challenges.  He found these in abundance at the highly regarded Carmine’s, where executive chef Robert Castellani’s exacting technique and unflinching demand for perfection helped Rendell refine his own approach and develop the patience required by haute cuisine.  His next move was to Sydney to work under Neil Perry at the Rock Pool Group and then to Christine Manfield’s iconic Paramount.  It was at Paramount that Rendell discovered his love of Asian ingredients whose vibrancy was such that a handful could be used for everything from a simple sauce to the most complex main course. His work with Manfield even took him to Singapore to represent Paramount at the World Gourmet Food Summit.

The travel bug bit while Rendell was in Singapore, and he was inspired to head to Europe, landing a job in London with Thai food expert David Thompson. Rendell then accepted a job with David Selex at The Sugar Club and helped open The Grocer of Elgin, one of London’s best-known food retailers. His most recent job in London was at the Mews of Mayfair, where the kitchen put out elegant renditions of modern British cooking.

Rendell finally crossed the Atlantic to work alongside fellow Sugar Club alumnus Brad Farmerie first at PUBLIC, and now at Double Crown and Madam Geneva.  His Antipodean roots, affinity for British and Asian cuisine, and refined technique marked him as the natural choice for such a union.

Pastry Chef

A native of Carmel, New York, Chef Ryan Butler attended the Culinary Institute of America, receiving his degree in Pastry Arts. He began his career at Park Avenue Café in New York City, becoming sous chef to his mentor, Richard Leach. Chef Butler then became head pastry chef at Tocqueville Restaurant, where he developed his unique combination of neo-classic and modern techniques and the use of a savory approach to pastry.  After managing pastry operations at the Gramercy Park Hotel, Chef Butler became Executive Pastry Chef at Django Restaurant where he created visually-pleasing presentations focusing on the use of exotic ingredients from around the world. Today Butler is the Executive Pastry Chef at Double Crown in New York. In keeping with Double Crown’s culinary approach of British-Indo-Asian fare, Butler crafts elegant desserts that deftly combine the perfume and spice of Asia with traditional British favorites.