James Beard Award nominee Laura Cole will oversee the full-service restaurant and atrium cafe at the Anchorage Museum starting in April.
Cole, who opened 229 Parks Restaurant and Tavern near the Denali National Park and Preserve entrance in 2005, has earned a reputation for cooking with sustainable, ethically sourced Alaska elements. Her signature dishes include Alaska-ranched pork ribs with beet root glaze, reindeer ragu with mint and house goat ricotta, crispy parsnip chips with house ranch dressing and rhubarb lemonade.
"Laura's approach to food is about elevating and defining place in a way that respects and reveres its distinct characteristics and people," said Anchorage Museum director and CEO Julie Decker. "This approach mirrors the museum's approach to exhibitions, programs and collections. So it's exciting to add food to the ways in which the museum strives to provide a powerful and compelling narrative for the North."
Cole, who attended the New England Culinary Institute and the Escoffier Institute in Paris, participated in season 15 of Bravo TV's "Top Chef."