Julia Jaksic

Julia Jaksic has always had a fascination with food, from cultural traditions to its role in history, At the same time, she firmly believes food should be a simple pleasure, one best enjoyed without pretense. Her approach makes her a great fit as the executive chef at Employees Only, a restaurant that encourages the simple pleasures in life: expertly prepared food and cocktails shared with friends.

After graduating from the University of Illinois, Julia moved to Chicago and attended the city’s Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. After stages in various Chicago restaurant kitchens, Julia moved to New York, a city she had always planned to call home.

In New York, she accepted a position at the SoHo Grand Hotel, where she worked for over two years for Missy Robbins (now the executive chef at Spiaggia in Chicago). Missy was a mentor for Julia on everything from how to work with certain ingredients to advice on dealing with testosterone-driven kitchens.

After two years exploring food styling and private catering, Julia met the owners of Employees Only who hired her as their opening sous chef in 2004. Several of the dishes she created at that time, including the hand-cut steak tartar prepared tableside, are now the restaurant’s signature dishes. While she was sous chef at Employees Only, Julia took on several additional roles: consulting chef at Smith & Mills, which opened in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood in 2007, and founder of a group called DinnerClub.

Now, as the executive chef at Employees Only, Julia directs the menu’s balance of classic American and European-inspired dishes. She changes dishes seasonally and carefully considers each element so guests can enjoy what she considers to be the most satisfying of simplest pleasures.