Chef Gerard Craft is the executive chef and owner of Niche Food Group in St. Louis, Missouri. After opening his modern Missouri restaurant, Niche, in 2005 at the age of 25, Chef Craft has extended his restaurant group to include Taste by Niche, his cocktail bar with seasonal small plates, Brasserie by Niche, a classic French bistro, and his approachable Italian concept, Pastaria. He recently opened his first fast food concept, Porano Pasta in downtown St. Louis and will add a second location for Pastaria in Nashville in Summer 2016. Chef Craft’s creative yet simple food has earned him recognition as a Food & Wine Best New Chef, Inc. magazine’s “Star Entrepreneurs under 30,” one of Food & Wine's Innovators of the Year and the 2015 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Midwest award winner.