Simon Cordes, born and raised in a small town in Germany, first took an interest in food when he ate a pincho as a young boy on a trip to Spain with his family. After attending the culinary institute in Cologne and graduating in 2010, he moved as a young chef to France and entered the world of creative cuisine.

​

He worked for one year at the renowned Le Château de Nantilly in Gray, a luxury hotel with an integrated Michelin-starred restaurant.

​

Driven and passionate for the culinary world, he entered the stage of world-class restaurants and worked for Noma in Denmark, La Vie in Germany, Baeren Hotel in Switzerland, Red Bull Hangar-7 in Austria, and made in 2015 his final destination to New York City.

​

After working at a Michelin-starred restaurant in lower Manhattan and for 2.5 years in the corporate executive dining room at JP Morgan Headquarters, he decided to go his own path and created the concept of the German speakeasy-dinner.