Chef Drewno joined the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group in 1998. At Chinois, he learned to meld French cooking techniques with vibrant Asian flavors, and at Spago, he came to understand the importance of beginning with only the finest ingredients. Drewno then furthered his knowledge and solidified his passion for Asian cuisines at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Vong and Stephen Hansen’s Ruby Foo’s.
In 2007, Wolfgang Puck tapped Drewno as the opening Executive Chef of The Source. The restaurant was honored with numerous accolades including three-star reviews from both The Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) awarded The Source “New Restaurant of the Year” in 2008 and “Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year” in 2011. Drewno himself received the coveted “Chef of the Year” prize in 2010 and again in 2016 and was twice nominated as a semifinalist for the “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic” James Beard Award.
In 2017, he formed The Fried Rice Collective with fellow chef Danny Lee opening their first restaurant, CHIKO, in Capitol Hill. Hailed by Zagat as one of “DC’s Most Important Restaurant Openings of 2017,” CHIKO was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as a semifinalist for “Best New Restaurant” and later awarded a Restaurant Association RAMMY for said category.
Tom Sietsema, from The Washington Post, gave CHIKO 3 stars (Excellent), stating “The latest definition of crack in Washington is the “orange-ish” chicken at CHIKO on Capitol Hill.” This was also the third consecutive year that Washingtonian Magazine named CHIKO one of DC’s top 50 best restaurants, awarding it a prestigious 3 star rating.
Riding the wave of success, Drewno and The Fried Rice Collective decided to open a second concept in 2019. Anju, a sophisticated amalgam of traditional Korean flavors and modern cooking techniques, was recently named the number one best restaurant in DC by Washingtonian Magazine.
