Biography: Preston Madson, Executive Chef/Co-Owner, Bellwether
Chef Preston Madson grew up in Southeast Georgia. Surrounded by Southern classics and locally grown ingredients, he developed an early appreciation for food and learned at a young age to cook based on the seasons. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Madson cooked at the popular raw food vegan restaurant Roxanne’s and subsequently worked on an organic farm in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Eventually moving back to the East Coast, he continued to pursue his passion for high quality ingredients and careful sourcing at New York City’s acclaimed Barbuto restaurant under chef/owner Jonathan Waxman, who introduced him to a “less is more” approach which helped to shape his cooking style today. After Barbuto, Madson cooked at Manhattan’s Cookshop, Provence, Peels, and Freemans as executive chef. Eventually, he re-joined his mentor Jonathan Waxman to open Jams at the 1 Central Park Hotel, serving as Chef de Cuisine with his wife as Executive Chef. Now, Preston brings his experience and inspiration to Bellwether.