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Few chefs can lay claim to Michelin stars. Fewer still can lay claim to having acquired Michelin stars before turning 30. Chef Samuel Clonts is one of the latter few.

Chef Samuel was awarded said star in 2017. He was 26-years-old and working his first Executive Chef position at Bar ������ū, a Japanese concept on New York’s Lower East Side that he ran with his long-time professional partner Raymond Trinh. 

Having a “long-time professional partner” at age 26 tells you something about Chef Samuel’s early start in the culinary world. He grew up cooking at home with his mom, and in high school, participated in an inspiring high school culinary arts program. He then started his “official” career in the most traditional entry-level restaurant job there is: washing dishes. 

He was 15 at the time, and the restaurant was close to his home in Tuscan, AZ. It wasn’t long before he landed a job in the kitchen at the nearby Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain. By the time he turned 18, he was running several stations as Chef de Partie and had made the most important friend of his professional life in Raymond Trinh.

With high school behind him, Chef Samuel set off for New York City, where his first action was enrolling in ICE’s Culinary Arts program. His next was getting a job at the nearby Ritz-Carlton Battery Park. As part of his ICE coursework and thanks to a good bit of personal grit, Chef Samuel secured an externship and then a job at the three-Michelin-starred modern Japanese fusion restaurant Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare. He convinced Raymond to join him, and five years later, they were both hired to take over Bar ������ū: Chef Samuel led the kitchen as Executive Chef, and Raymond managed the front-of-house. 

In June of 2021, Chef Samuel and Raymond opened 63 Clinton, a Japanese-influenced restaurant that was their first full ownership venture. By September of that same year, it had a Michelin star.

In 2023, Chef Samuel cheffed at La Paulée alongside longtime friend-of ICE, Chef Daniel Boulud.