Current gigs: Sous chef at Loquita; mastermind, with his girlfriend, Jenna Isaacs, of After Hours Pop-Up series.
Background: Born in the Bay Area and raised in Los Angeles, Collins ditched his pursuit of biology at Cal Poly when he realized he didn’t want to be a doctor. “I did a bit of soul-searching and found the kitchen,” said Collins, who attended culinary school instead. He stage’d at Providence, Craft, Maude, and Melisse, easily some of the best restaurants in North America. After visiting Santa Barbara one weekend with Isaacs, he moved here about two years ago for a job opening Somerset. When that short-lived restaurant shut down and most of the original staff bailed — it’s now Smithy — Collins moved to Loquita.
Isaacs’s resume includes Melisse, where they met, and then Redbird, Maude, Patina, and, in Santa Barbara, Angel Oak at the Bacara and Blackbird at the Hotel Californian. “She’s a fantastic sounding board for creative purposes,” said Collins, “and she’s an incredibly talented chef in her own right.”
