Chef Ken Frank has spent more than four decades shaping the conversation around seasonally driven fine dining in California. His culinary path began as a teenager living in France, where he fell for French cooking so completely that he taught himself to master it. By twenty-one, he was already drawing national attention as chef of La Guillotine, earning a reputation for insisting on the best seasonal ingredients long before that ethos became mainstream.
He continued to influence the emerging West Coast food scene as the opening chef at Michael’s in Santa Monica, a restaurant often cited as a cradle of early California Cuisine. In 1979, at only twenty-three, Frank opened the first La Toque on the Sunset Strip. His focus was clear from the start: thoughtful cooking rooted in seasonality, warm hospitality, and a collaborative approach to wine pairing.
Frank relocated La Toque to Napa Valley in 1998, drawn by the proximity to farmers, winemakers, and the ingredients that defined his cooking. After a decade in Rutherford, he moved the restaurant to its current home at the Westin Verasa in downtown Napa’s Oxbow District. Today, La Toque remains one of Napa’s most respected dining institutions, and Frank continues to refine the balance of French technique, California produce, and exacting flavor that has guided his entire career.
