Michelin-Trained Chefs Alex Catotti and Erin Kobler Plan Durham, North Carolina, Restaurants

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Chef Alex Catotti is coming home. After building a career in some of the country’s most celebrated kitchens, the Durham native will return to his hometown with his wife and business partner Pastry Chef Erin Kobler to open Restaurant Cornelia, the fine dining destination he has dreamed of for years. The pair will also open a sister concept, The Vintner and The Baker, to serve as the backbone of the chefs’ sustainable mission. Together, Restaurant Cornelia and The Vintner and The Baker will place Durham at the forefront of the culinary scene in the American South. The restaurants will share the same downtown Durham address at 949 Washington Street and are slated to open in Spring 2027. Visit corneliadurham.com and follow @restaurantcornelia, @vintnerbaker and the chefs at @alex_catotti and @erincobbler.

Catotti most recently served as Sous Chef at the three-Michelin-star Smyth in Chicago — ranked the No. 1 restaurant in North America by The World’s 50 Best. His path there began in Durham, training under Chef Scott Howell at Nana’s, and continued in California at Restaurant Trokay before he immersed himself in Chicago’s celebrated fine dining scene. Over nearly a decade, he also honed his craft at the one-Michelin-starred Next, and at Bellemore, part of acclaimed chef-driven Boka Restaurant Group. Now, he returns to the community that shaped him, bringing with him the elevated craft and hospitality that define Chicago’s fine dining scene.

Kobler brings her own distinguished pedigree to the project, most recently serving as Executive Pastry Chef at Sepia and Proxi in Chicago, where she directed the pastry program for the Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant and its globally inspired Bib Gourmand sister property — work that earned her a 2024 Jean Banchet Award nomination for Best Pastry Chef in Chicago and recognition as a 2024 StarChefs Rising Star. She built her foundation on the opening team at Boka Restaurant Group’s Bellemore, named one of Robb Report’s “10 Best New Restaurants in America,” and is a Chef Ambassador for Nielsen-Massey Vanillas.

Together, Catotti and Kobler have worked alongside some of Chicago’s most acclaimed chefs and restaurateurs, including John and Karen Shields of Smyth and The Loyalist, Grant Achatz of Alinea and Next, Andrew Zimmerman of Sepia and Proxi, and Jimmy Papadopolous and Leigh Omilinsky, formerly of the Boka Restaurant Group.

Restaurant Cornelia takes its name from the Chicago street where Alex and Erin shared their first home together — a quiet nod to the formative years that shaped them, and that they now carry home with them to Durham. Here, they’ll introduce a seasonal, rotating tasting menu built around the fermentation and preservation of local ingredients, drawing on partnerships with farmers, fishers and ranchers across North Carolina and the American South. The Vintner and The Baker, its approachable sister concept within the same space, will transition from a coffee shop and bakery by day, with a menu that reflects Kobler’s award-winning pastry background and their shared love of coffee, and transition into a full-service wine bar by night, offering creative small plates designed to be enjoyed alongside an extensive, natural and low-intervention wine list.

“Durham has always had a storied restaurant history and a community of genuinely passionate growers and eaters. I’ve wanted to be part of that story for a long time, and I knew that when I was ready, I wanted to bring back everything I’ve learned working alongside some of the world’s best chefs. With the bounty of what’s around us, we believe we have everything we need for a world-class table,” explained Alex Catotti.  “Erin and I can’t wait to share this next chapter with the community that started it all for me as a chef.”

Mattie Beason of Elm Partners co-brokered the lease, bringing Restaurant Cornelia and The Vintner and The Baker to the propery. The design and architectural work for the space is being led by Ellen Cassilly, FAIA, of Ellen Cassilly Architects, based in Durham. Renderings and additional details on the space, menus and dining experience will be shared in the coming months as the project progresses.

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