EXECUTIVE CHEF
Jamie McDonald
Jamie is from Spokane Washington, where he earned his early chops working at Pizza Hut and Red Robin while in college. Between spending time with his close friend’s family from Jordan and eating his mom’s middle eastern food and working in busy corporate restaurants he developed a love for the organized chaos that is the restaurant industry.
In 2011 he moved to Portland and attended Oregon Culinary Institute to develop his culinary skills. After graduating culinary school Jamie joined the team at once long time Portland fine dining Restaurant Genoa and its sister restaurant Accanto where he developed his love for rustic, authentic Italian Cuisine. He then moved on to become the executive Sous Chef of another Portland favorite The Brasserie Montmartre and worked there until its closing in 2015.
Jamie then moved on to the high end and Best Restaurant of the year in 2015 Renata where he worked closely under Chef Matt Siegler and restaurant owners Nick and Sandra Arnerich from French Laundry where he says was “my second culinary education” and further developed his love for Italian food. After moving through the ranks there and being apart of the opening team of Figlia it was time to move on and was hired on as the Head Chef of The Rock Creek Corner for the better part of 5 years. There Jamie found his own culinary voice, following in the spirit of his favorite chef Alice Waters: cooking simple, flavorful food that is new to some but still very approachable and for everyone.
Today Jamie is here at the 9900 cooking under that same culinary mantra of simple and flavorful, where he sees himself now as more of a teacher or coach than a chef, he takes pride in seeing his co-workers learn and grow and believes that is what’s most important when it comes to leading a group of people, you never stop learning. When Jamie is not at the restaurant, he can be found on the Tennis Courts working on his backhand, playing with his two boys or enjoying time with his partner Jessica watching a sci-fi show and eating tacos.