Ash, founder of John Ash & Co., opened his eponymous restaurant in 1980 in Santa Rosa. It quickly became an acclaimed destination for special nights out.
Sonoma County Chef John Ash, considered the father of Wine Country cuisine and founder of the restaurant John Ash & Co., has died. He was 83.
Two of his children, Tyler Ash and Emily Ash Lamb, confirmed the news in a phone call Friday night. Ash died Thursday of a heart condition and after a brief illness, they said.
Ash opened his eponymous restaurant in 1980 in Santa Rosa’s Montgomery Village. The trailblazing approach to using local, seasonal ingredients that complemented the wines of Sonoma County quickly became a destination.
His friendships with wine pioneers of the region, including Merry Edwards and Joseph Swan, led to one of the first restaurant wine programs in California, featuring both French wines and those of Sonoma County.
In 1985, Food & Wine magazine named him one of America’s “hot new chefs“ — launching him onto a national stage. Ash relocated his namesake restaurant to the Vintner’s Inn (Vinarosa Resort) in 1987, later turning it over to Chef Thomas Schmidt.
But his great joy in life became teaching cooking skills to others — no matter the skill level. Whether in books or on radio or television shows, his aim was to share simple secrets, and his students needed simply to love good food and preparation, his daughter said.
“He was really an amazing educator,” Ash Lamb said. “He really loved home cooks as well as professionals. I think he wanted it to be accessible.”
One of his great joys was showcasing local chefs and restaurants on The Good Food Hour, a weekly radio show he co-hosted with Steve Garner for nearly 40 years.
In later life, Ash turned his attention to teaching, and was named “Cooking School Teacher of the Year” by the International Association of Culinary Professionals in 2008. He was also an advocate for sustainable seafood, serving on the Board of Seafood Watch, an educational initiative of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
His home-chef friendly recipes appeared monthly in The Press Democrat until his recent retirement.
Reaction from the Sonoma County food world came in quickly, as news of Ash’s death spread.
“He introduced Sonoma County to America, and now it is part of the national landscape, said restaurant consultant Clark Wolf, adding, “not every chef is a cook, and John was a cook who shared recipes with the community and through his books.”
“John set the tone for what Wine Country cuisine should be. He was a trailblazer to my generation of chefs and those who followed in his footsteps,” said chef Josh Silvers, founder of Syrah restaurant and owner of Jackson’s Bar & Oven.
“It was about his humility, his passion for food, and his unpretentiousness,” said former KZST host and friend Brent Farris, who also knew Ash from the early days of his Santa Rosa restaurant.
Ash authored six cookbooks and is a two-time James Beard Award winner. “Culinary Birds” won a 2014 James Beard award and John Ash Cooking One-on-One won in 2005. His other books include “From the Earth to the Table,” “American Game Cooking,” and most recently “The Hog Island Book of Fish & Seafood” that was published in 2023.
“He talked to anyone and everyone about food on their level, and people loved him for it,” Farris said. “With the passing of John Ash, Sonoma County lost a little bit of its flavor.”
Early life
John Ash was born in Colorado on Feb. 8, 1942 to Agnes and John Ash. He was one of four siblings.
He credited his grandmother for piquing his interest in food. “She was an amazing cook, never used a cookbook,” he said.
He attended the University of Arizona where he earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.
He did myriad jobs in the Bay Area, including product development at Del Monte Foods, where he and colleagues were creators of pudding cups, according to an interview with The Press Democrat. He also did a stint doing medical drawings, according to his daughter.
“He got fascinated by that and somehow transferred to wanting to do that on a plate and creating art on a plate,” she said.
He studied at the famed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
“When (he) came back to San Francisco, (he) had friends that had moved up to Santa Rosa and said they should come up,” his daughter, Emily Ash Lamb, said.
He worked at Russian River Vineyards, but it was at the Courthouse Cafe in downtown Santa Rosa that veteran Sonoma County food writer and former chef Michele Anna Jordan recalls taking real note of his gifts.
“It was the mid to late ’70s and the food was really a revelation,” she said. “It was some of the best food in Sonoma County at the time.”
“There were really fresh salads, not the iceberg and canned bean salads that you would get at most places,” she said.
Dining and Cooking