John Sundstrom
Cora Pizza and Plates, Lark, and Slab Sandwich | Seattle, WA
October 2019
Salt Lake City-born John Sundstrom was serious about cooking from the start. He apprenticed in a traditional Japanese restaurant for four years before graduating from the New England Culinary Institute in 1989. Sundstrom then turned to the world of luxury hotels, working at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, Club XIX at the Lodge at Pebble Beach, and the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley over the next few years. Sundstrom then moved to Seattle and started working at Raison d'Être Café before cooking at places like Cafe Sport Restaurant and Café Campagne. In 1993, he joined the team at Chef Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Lounge, rising to the role of executive chef during his six years at the restaurant.
After a trip to Japan in 1999, Sundstrom staged his way through New York and San Francisco, cooking in the kitchens of Chefs Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Diane Forley, Gary Danko, and Traci Des Jardins. He returned to Seattle and, after opening the vegetarian restaurant Carmelita, took over the culinary program at Earth & Ocean at the W Hotel Seattle as executive chef, earning him Food & Wine Magazine Best New Chef in 2001 and a StarChefs Rising Star Award in 2003.
Later that year, Sundstrom set out on his own and opened his first restaurant, Lark. In 2007, he won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest. At the acclaimed restaurant, Sundstrom combines Japanese, Latin, and European influences with products from the region’s talented artisans, farmers, and foragers. In 2012, he released his cookbook, Lark: Cooking Against the Grain, and in 2014, relocated Lark to the Central Agency Building. Since then, Sundstrom has opened two more casual dining concepts, Slab Sandwich and Cora Pizza & Plates, originally Southpaw. Across his restaurants and concepts, and throughout the city, Sundstrom has helped foster the creativity and passion of a new generation of chefs, encouraging them to think outside the box and embrace global techniques while reaching out to their local community for quality ingredients and endless inspiration.
2025 Seattle Rising Stars Mentor Winner
2019 StarChefs Chefs Congress Presenter
2003 StarChefs Rising Stars Award Winner
