Mitchell Herring grew up in Buffalo and came to cooking the way most serious cooks do: by starting somewhere demanding and staying curious. His foundation was built at The Capital Grille, where the standard for precision, knife work, and flavor-building was high enough to show him what the craft could be.

From there, his path turned in an unexpected direction: Head Pitmaster at Spork Pit, where the discipline shifted from the fine dining kitchen to the long patience of Texas-style barbecue. Butchering. Fire management. Rubs, sauces, wood selection. The understanding that some flavors cannot be rushed, only waited for — an instinct that translates directly to the tasting menu kitchen.

At One by Spork, Mitch helps lead the kitchen’s evolving tasting menu, overseeing operations and working closely with Chef Christian to develop dishes that are seasonal, precise, and shaped by the same philosophy that runs through every part of the restaurant: that what arrives at the table is the result of weeks and months of careful preparation, not the work of a single evening.

When he is not in the kitchen, he is fishing or working in his home food lab — which is, by most definitions, still cooking.