About Us
Seth Kingsbury, Chef/Owner
Seth Kingsbury has always had a passion for food. At age eight, he would accompany his mother to her friend’s restaurant where he watched carefully and often helped out. During high school, he spent summers as a stag at Pier 66, a four-star, four-diamond hotel in Fort Lauderdale.
While he was in school and for a few years afterward, Seth worked in several local establishments, most notably as a member of the opening staff of Scott Howell’s Nana’s in Durham. To broaden his culinary horizons, Seth traveled to San Francisco in 1992. He worked under Mark Franz at Jeremiah Tower’s legendary California restaurant, Star’s Oakville Café. To this day Seth’s personal cooking style is very influenced by the time he spent at Star’s: the attempt to combine a few simple flavorsperfectly, without heavy sauces or over-manipulation.
In January of the following year, Seth returned to North Carolina to help open Pop’s Trattoria. He worked with Scott Howell of Nana’s and Ben & Karen Barker of Magnolia Grill to incorporate the ideas and concepts that reflected the team’s culinary aspirations for the new restaurant. While Seth was at the helm, Bon Appetit magazine named Pop’s one of the hottest new restaurants for 1996. Seth also received an invitation from the James Beard Foundation in February 1996 to cook a southern regional dinner, “A Taste of the Carolinas,” featuring three other top Triangle area chefs.
In the fall of 1996, Seth decided to spend the winter in Naples, Florida as Sous Chef for Bistro 821. It was not long before Seth began to miss North Carolina. He gladly accepted the opportunity to come back to Chapel Hill as the Executive Chef at 411 West. Seth saw a unique opportunity to apply his operational and culinary skills. In January of 1998 while Executive Chef at 411 West; Seth was featured in the Atlanta Constitution’s Series, Southern Chefs. After a year at 411 West, Seth returned to the team at Nana’s in Durham as Chef de Cuisine. From June of 1998 until August of 2003, Seth was the driving force behind the daily menu focused on seasonal and local ingredients. During that time the News & Observer’s Greg Cox awarded Nana’s a rating of Stellar, his highest accolade.
At Pazzo Seth brings all of his various experiences – from Star’s to Nana’s to Pop’s and back again – to bear on this new venture. Since opening in late August of 2003, Pazzo has received much local attention. News & Observer’s Greg Cox reviewed Pazzo in the first 4 months of operations, gave the experience a 3 Star rating and concluded that, “you’d be crazy to pass up the chance to eat at Pazzo!”. Seth and the Pazzo team were again honored by the News and Observer by being identified as one of the Top Ten restaurant reviews of 2003.
When not writing a new menu, teaching culinary technique or preparing for the night’s service, you will find Seth relaxing at home or on the North Carolina coast with his wife, Amanda, and his dog, Scarlett.
