Michelin-Starred Clover Hill Has a New Head Chef

Michelin-starred Brooklyn Heights fine dining restaurant Clover Hill has found a new head chef following the departure of Charlie Mitchell, this year’s James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: New York State. Sam Rogers will lead the kitchen as the executive chef and a partner starting October 11: Rogers, who grew up across Latin America in Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil, has cooked at some of the world’s most renowned kitchens, including Noma, Momofuku Ko, Jungsik, Per Se, and most recently, One White Street.

In July, Mitchell departed to become executive chef at Saga, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant on the 63rd floor of 70 Pine at Pearl Street, following the untimely death of its founder Jamal James Kent this summer.

Natalie Black/Clover Hill

For this chapter, Rogers, 31, says he is looking forward to charting a course that helps the restaurant evolve and build on the elegance and intimacy of Clover Hill. He says he has waited his entire career for a role like this one.

“It feels very exciting,” he said in an interview. “I’ve spent a long time waiting for the right opportunity and right person to do it with.” To bring is vision to life, he has brought his own team into the kitchen with him, a tight group he worked with at Momofuku Ko. “It’s a group of very good friends and co-workers who I am very grateful for.”

While Rogers is keeping the details of his 10-course tasting menu ($245) close to the vest — he wants the dishes to be a surprise — he says his first menu is inspired by memories. “This menu is all about my childhood, moving from Bolivia to Argentina, Brazil and then Miami. It is a recollection of memories and tastes and flavors that I picked up along the way.”

He plans on several canapes, a couple of crudos, then fish like trout, a game course, and meats like quail which he remembers his dad grilling on the barbecue at home, spiced with cumin. “Food is always best when it comes from memory,” he said. “The connection you make with a bite of food is strongest when it reminds you of something you have long forgotten. And that is the feeling I want to recreate in the context of my own personal story.”

“We are very excited to Welcome Chef Sam to Clover Hill. Our philosophies are completely aligned, and we are thrilled about this new chapter,” founder and general manager Clay Castillo said in a statement.

A lot is riding on Rogers’ tenure: Mitchell helped Clover Hill land glowing reviews and a Michelin star for his tasting menu, putting the cupboard-sized dining room on a charming cobblestone street on the map as one of the city’s most innovative and exceptional restaurants. In his 100 Best Restaurants, former New York Times critic Pete Wells said, “His belief in what he’s doing is total, and it comes through on every plate.”

Editor’s note October 1, 2024 at 9:53 a.m.: This article has been updated to include an interview with Sam Rogers.

Food Story Media/Clover Hill