Job Carder started his culinary career in a small Texas and Louisiana style barbecue house called Little Lou’s in Santa Cruz, CA while still in college. He went on to work at a family owned Northern Italian restaurant called Bienvenuto Trattoria, where he gained a true understanding of the cuisine and of the different styles of regional Italian cooking.

He moved back to his hometown of Los Angeles, with the goal of honing his talents in classic and contemporary French cooking and set forth to continue his culinary training in some of the city’s finest kitchens, spending over 5 years working his way up hierarchy of chef positions within the Patina Group restaurants and catering, honing his talents in every area of the professional kitchen from butchering to desserts.

Job was recruited by Café Bizou in Santa Monica to their executive chef, a position that made Job the youngest executive chef in the Los Angeles area at the age of 24. Under Carder, Café Bizou was voted L.A.’s most popular restaurant by Zagat Guide. Following Café Bizou, Job spent two years leading the team at La Scala; one of the oldest and most highly regarded Italian restaurants in Los Angeles. In October of 2003 he was brought on board with Mix Restaurant by Chef John Jackson, to help open and run the kitchen. Job Carder created a cuisine that was unique to the L.A. area by keeping his dishes simple, flavorful and staying true to the ingredients and the regional style of French and Mediterranean cuisines.

In 2005 Job Carder joined the food and beverage team at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area as Executive Chef of the Ski Resort as well as only fine dining restaurant on the mountain as both Chef and General Manager, Parallax Restaurant. Overseeing the dining room, three food courts and two bar style restaurants, the food and beverage grossed over $11.6 million in sales with 98 employees and four management teams who reported directly to him.

In August of 2007 an opportunity arose at Manzanita Restaurant in the heart of the California wine country of Sonoma County in Healdsburg. Job Carder was always drawn to this area of California because of the richness of the agriculture, farms and phenomenal wines. Honing in on what the area has to offer Chef Carder created relationships with organic produce and live stock farmers as well as local fishermen.

At Manzanita Restaurant Chef Carder created an ultra seasonal menu of local organic and wild produce, farm fresh organic meats and local wild seafood. Since Chef Carder has been at Manzanita the restaurant has grown into a favorite of the Healdsburg community and the wine country tourist.

While at Manzanita, Carder met David Johnson, who used to come into the restaurant often while traveling from Southern California, who discussed with Carder his desire to open a smart California bistro in Pasadena. A native of the area, for Carder it was an easy decision to make this a reality for them both, “I wanted to bring a quality dinning place back to my home town—and give my family and friends a comfortable, quality restaurant where they would want to dine often,” says Carder. “This is where it all started for me; I love this town and its people, why wouldn’t I want to give something to them when they have given me so much.”

When not in the kitchen, Carder enjoys most of all spending time with his children, Raine (7) and Ronin (5)—“I want to give them something they can be proud of the same way I am so proud of what my grandfather has done,” says Carder.