Ben Sukle

 / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
/ PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Listening to staff and customers and satisfying their needs are what make being the owner and executive chef at Birch in Providence rewarding, Ben Sukle says.

“To listen to no one is a surefire way to run a business into the ground,” he added.

At 30, Sukle has spent the past 2½ years with his wife, co-owner Heidi Sukle, running Birch, and this month is opening a second restaurant, Oberlin, on Union Street.

“We’ll revisit a lot of the flavor profiles and techniques we’ve come to find successful at Birch,” he said, “[where] the style is very much using the things Rhode Island has plenty of – and that’s seafood and vegetables. Our menus change so constantly, we have yet to repeat a dish.”

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Born in Middletown, Pa., and living now in East Greenwich, Sukle graduated from JWU with a bachelor of science degree in culinary arts in 2008. Starting at the former Farmstead in Providence while in school, he served as chef de cuisine from 2008 to 2011, was executive chef at The Dorrance in downtown Providence for 1½ years, then opened Birch in June 2013.

“I always wanted to cook in kitchens and cook in a line, so it’s a natural progression to want to be in charge of a line and a menu,” he said. “That’s always what you aspire to be; you want to see all aspects on the kitchen and then have your own imprint on [it].” n

Favorite dish to make: Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Dining when not cooking: Outback Steakhouse, Mike’s Kitchen in Cranston

Most admired living chef: David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif.

Why Rhode Island? Proximity to the water

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