who he is.
Chef Jason McKinney is a French Laundry alum, founder of Truffle Shuffle (Shark Tank, ButcherBox acquisition), currently staging across 14 countries before opening Restaurant Elizabeth — a 14-seat Michelin-targeted restaurant in NYC, 2027.
Jason McKinney trained at Sea Island (Forbes Five-Star) before five years at The French Laundry under Thomas Keller — the last two as sous chef, with the Core Award in hand. He staged at Maison Pic (3★) and Frenchie in France.
In 2020 he co-founded Truffle Shuffle, a virtual cooking-class platform that grew into a specialty-food brand. Shark Tank S12 closed a deal with Mark Cuban in 2021; the company was acquired by ButcherBox in 2023 — their first all-cash acquisition.
He is now on the Elizabeth World Tour — 14 countries, 383 days, every stage documented — before opening Restaurant Elizabeth in NYC in 2027.
Jason McKinney's first kitchen memory is cooking pancakes with his grandfather at age four. He started on a line at seventeen, apprenticed at Sea Island, and in 2013 walked into The French Laundry as a commis. He stayed five years — commis, chef de partie, sous chef — and carried the Core Award when he left.
In 2018 he staged abroad: Maison Pic in Valence, Frenchie in Paris, and Gaggan in Bangkok. In 2020 he co-founded Truffle Shuffle with Tyler Vorce — a pandemic-born virtual cooking-class platform that ran its first class from a Bay Area garage. By 2021 the company had pivoted to specialty food, landed a deal with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank Season 12, and was being covered in Forbes, Eater, and Haute Living. By 2022 it was doing $13.3M in annual sales. In 2023, ButcherBox acquired the company — their first all-cash acquisition.
The exit bought him focus. The Elizabeth World Tour is the chapter that came next: 14 countries, 383 days, stages at Florilège (Tokyo ★★), Frantzen (Stockholm ★★★), Gaggan, and residencies at Angama Mara (Kenya) and Cap Karoso (the #1 hotel in the world). Every stage is documented on YouTube, Instagram, and Substack under Where Is Chef Jason? — part travel show, part cooking show, part documentary.
The tour ends where Restaurant Elizabeth opens in 2027: a 14-seat Michelin-targeted restaurant in New York City. It is named for his grandmother.
