Chef/Owner Donald Link
Herbsaint and Cochon

Inspired by his Grandfather, Donald Link began cooking at a very young age. He was working in the kitchen at age 15 washing dishes and soon began cooking After years of experience working in Louisiana restaurants, Donald moved to San Francisco in 1993.  After working one year at the wildly popular Cha Cha Cha, Link attended the California Culinary Academy.  During this time Donald cooked at many San Francisco restaurants, including the eccentric Flying Saucer, the newly opened Scala’s Bistro, Cole Valley’s Zazie, and at the Elite Café. In 1995, Chef Link pursued his externship at Susan Spicer’s Bayona in New Orleans and continued on to become sous chef. In 1997, he returned to San Francisco to work with Loretta Keller at Bizou and to open Jardinière with Traci Des Jardin. On the West coast he again refined his style with a more acute appreciation of raw ingredients and a more delicate approach to technique with an emphasis on lightening sauces. This led to an Executive Chef opportunity at the Elite Café in San Francisco’s Fillmore District where he received rave reviews--  being hailed as “the premiere chef doing Creole food in the Bay area;” appearing on local cooking shows and participating in many charity events around Northern California. Chef Link returned to New Orleans in 2000 to open Herbsaint Restaurant in the Warehouse District--where his non-compromising eye for quality ingredients and local produce underscore his stylish dishes – rich with flavor, while remaining light. Out of these basic principles, innovative yet simple preparations have led to some of the most original and favored dishes in the city at Herbsaint-- whose menu is peppered with house-made staples such as pastas and cured meats from its’ small kitchen. Chef Link learned about acute attention to detail of preparation from his childhood and expanded these ideas with a tireless energy for sourcing and producing ingredients.  These ideas and a lot of sweat have converged at Herbsaint to what he can now consider a personal style of cooking. Also reflected on the menu at Herbsaint is the bounty of near and far with rabbits and suckling pigs from nearby southern Mississippi, locally caught wild shrimp and regular shipments of fresh seafood from the West and East coasts.

In the Spring of 2006, following six months of delays due to Hurricane Katrina, Chef Link opened Cochon. Opening Cochon has been a lifelong dream for Chef Link, who grew up in Louisiana’s Cajun Country beside his grandparents in their home.  Keeping true to these roots, Link will keep Cochon an authentic Cajun and Southern style restaurant featuring the foods and cooking techniques he grew up preparing and eating.  This commitment is evident in the dishes on the restaurant’s menu such as Spoon Bread with Okra and Tomatoes; Smoked Duck Breast with Marinated Green Beans andentrées from the wood burning oven like Rabbit and Dumplings; Louisiana Cochon du Lait with Turnips and Cracklings; and his signature Catfish Sauce Piquant. In addition to the genuine Louisiana menu at Cochon, Chef Link and co-owner Chef Stephen Stryjewski will oversee an in-house “Boucherie,” including house-made Boudin, Andouille, and Smoked Bacon.

This year (2007) the world-renowned culinary organization The James Beard Foundation named Chef Link the: Best Chef: South (Link’s second nomination for Best Chef: South) and Cochon was nominated as Best New Restaurant: Cochon-- co/owned by Stephen Stryjewski. The James Beard Foundation award and nomination culminates a string of awards and accolades Chef Link has received since opening Herbsaint Restaurant in 2000 including but not limited to being listed as one of the “top ten” restaurants in New Orleans by the Times-Picayune; featured in the “America's Top 50 Restaurants” Gourmet Magazine in 2006; numerous accolades from the New York Times; and bestowed the honor by New Orleans Magazine for “Best Chef of 2002.”

Chef Stephen Stryjewski was born in Kansas to a military family and traveled extensively as a child.  Born to a Polish father and an Irish mother meant that meat, potatoes and gravy were the mainstays of his culinary life.  However, the military lifestyle exposed him to multitudes of different cuisines.  At fourteen he began working as a dishwasher at a New Jersey country club and moved up to prep cook and line cook, which set the stage for what would become a life-long passion. 

After graduating from high school, he moved to Amherst, MA where he discovered that he was quite suited to working in restaurants rather than pursuing academic subjects. After working in several chain restaurant kitchens, he accepted a job with Marriott, where his interest in cooking professionally truly developed.  This experience inspired him to enroll at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

With a reasonable foundation now in place, he departed to Europe to travel and research her rich culinary traditions. The sprawling markets and incredible products captured his attention and made a strong impression on his own culinary aesthetic. The emphasis on technique and simplicity he discovered in Europe introduced him to ideals that would later become the foundation of his own culinary philosophy. When he returned home, he moved to the Napa valley in California and began to work at Tra Vigne.  There he found the same attention to detail and quality of  ingredients that impressed him in Europe. With the urge to travel, he continued his journey to New Orleans, LA to work at Commander's Palace.  Chef Jamie Shannon and the Brennan family emphasized the importance of service in the dining experience.  On the Outer Banks of North Carolina he briefly worked at the Blue Point Bar and Grill, then to Vidalia Restaurant in Washington, DC.  He moved back to New Orleans to help Emanual Loubier open Dante’s Kitchen and then joined Herbsaint Restaurant as a line cook and was quickly promoted to sous chef.

During the next four years he established a great working relationship with Herbsaint's owner and chef, Donald Link.  Together they conceived Cochon, a Cajun style southern restaurant in New Orleans' Warehouse District that features regional cuisine, local ingredients and homemade products in a small plate format.