Chef Biography
James Boyce was born in Poughkipsie, New York, and his culinary career began at age 14 in a bakery, baking bagels. He trained at the Culinary Institute and earned an apprenticeship and ultimately the title of “tournant” at the renowned Le Cirque in New York City under the tutelage of Great Chef Daniel Boulud, After six years at Le Cirque, he traveled west to become the sous chef at the Phoenician Hotel’s Mary Elaine’s under Great Chef Alex Stratta. He then went on to Las Vegas and California, before returning to the Phoenician as executive chef. That is where Great Chefs caught up with him in the early 2000’s, to tape Chef James Boyce for its Great Chefs of America series.
In 2003, he was tapped to anchor “Studio Restaurant” in California, where it earned a second Mobil Five-Star award. In mid-2000 he relocated his family to Huntsville, Alabama to begin a new culinary endeavor with the development of his own company, Boyce Restaurant Concepts. In 2008, he opened the first of 3 new restaurants, Cotton Row, followed by Pane e Vino Pizzeria and Commerce Kitchen.