Chef Robert Halpern began his culinary career at age 20 at the Moosewood Cafe in Ithaca, NY. Originally from Villanova, Chef Hapern has travelled the country learning his craft. In Santa Fe, Halpern cooked under Mark Miller and Nuno Mendes at Coyote Café, before heading back east to spend a season at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont. Later, he was chef de cuisine at Atlantica Restaurant, just steps away from the sea in Camden, Maine. By 2007, he was itching to learn more about cooking techniques that draw on food science, so he went to the source of such culinary innovation – Chicago – to intern with pioneering chef Grant Achatz of Alinea. He also did stints at Binkley’s Restaurant in Cave Creek, Arizona and Hugo’s in Portland, Maine. In 2009, Halpern returned home to helm a kitchen of his own. Since becoming the owner and executive chef at Marigold Kitchen he’s been called a “rising star” by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Crag Laban and a “damn good chef” by City Paper’s David Snyder. Most recently Philadelphia magazine ranked Marigold Kitchen the #2 restaurant in the 2013 “Top 50 Restaurants” list and was named Best New American Restaurant in their Best of Philly 2013 issue.