Amanda Turner
Olamaie | Austin
NOVEMBER 2023
Amanda Turner was on track to go to art school to study ceramics and 3D design, but when she picked up a serving job at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Tyler, Texas, she was bitten by the hospitality bug. Turner worked at Olive Garden for four years before deciding to go all in and attend Le Cordon Bleu in Austin. In 2010, she started working at Uchi, which was a culinary crash course for her. She went on to help open Uchiko, and after a stint at Japanese-inflected East Side King, Turner returned to Uchi, this time on the pastry side, learning under Rising Stars alum Philip Speer and leading the production team. She moved on to Odd Duck as head baker, tapping into her love of bread making. After two years there, Turner felt she was ready to take on a sous position.
In 2013, Turner helped open Juniper as sous chef, working her way up to chef de cuisine within a year. Three years later, she was awarded the Ment'or BKB grant, and traveled to Japan to stage at acclaimed Den and RyuGin for four months. Returning stateside, Turner moved to Jester King in Dripping Springs, Texas, restructuring the brewery’s baking program. In 2020, Turner was ramping up to open cocktail bar Tiki Tatsu-Ya when the pandemic hit, and in 2021, she instead joined the team at Rising Stars alum Michael Fojtasek's Olamaie as chef de cuisine. There, Turner presents seasonal Southern dishes, exploring the diverse cuisines of the South while incorporating her background in Japanese cooking. And when she’s not at Olamaie, Turner focuses her attention on her fried chicken pop-up, The Fiery Talon, based on her own Dungeons and Dragons game.
