Executive Chef Martin Ticar

Martin Ticar spent much of his early childhood in Norwalk, Conn., and then moved with his family to Columbia, Md. in 1985, where he started building his culinary resume as a dishwasher. In 1989, Ticar attended Georgia Tech and then, the University of Maryland. From there, he broadened his culinary skills, and enrolled in the esteemed Culinary Institute of America in 1996, before externing at the River Café in Brooklyn under the tutelage of Chef Rick Laakkonen. In 1998, he traveled south to work under Chef Shaun Doty at Mumbo Jumbo in Atlanta, where he became sous chef. While in Atlanta, he studied under Chef Todd Immel at the contemporary dining eatery, Oscar’s. In 2002, Ticar and his family moved to Chicago and he worked at restaurant Naha as a line cook, under accomplished Chef/Owner Carrie Nahabedian. Ticar joined the Lettuce Entertain You team in 2004, where he became sous chef at Mon Ami Gabi in Oakbrook, Ill. Ticar then moved to Bethesda, Md., and was quickly promoted to Mon Ami Gabi’s executive chef in 2005. In September 2008, Ticar assisted in opening the restaurant’s fifth location in Reston, Va., where he serves as the executive chef.