Haymaker Restaurant has hired David Quintana, formerly of Link & Pin in Huntersville, as its new chef de cuisine. Quintana was the executive chef at Dot Dot Dot before taking a role as a corporate chef with Dimensional Fund Advisors to spend more time with his family and work a more regular schedule. However, the closure of Uptown office buildings during the Covid-19 pandemic has left many corporate chefs unemployed.

William Dissen, executive chef and owner of Haymaker, Asheville restaurant The Market Place, and Billy D’s Fried Chicken in Asheboro, says he believes Quintana shares the restaurant’s focus on seasonal, local ingredients and will fit in well in the Haymaker kitchen.

“I’ve always admired his work and his professionalism,” Dissen says. “We had the opportunity to talk about the position when it became available, and we really see eye to eye on a lot of our culinary philosophies, our life philosophies.”

After Quintana put forth an impressive tasting, Dissen hired him. Over the next weeks, Dissen hopes to give Quintana time to adjust to the new kitchen and get acclimated to the team before working together to bring the menu forward. One area where Dissen is particularly excited to have Quintana on board is regarding the restaurant’s use of whole hogs, brought into the restaurant ever few weeks and broken down for use in many of the restaurant’s menu items. Quintana has long been known as one of the most experienced charcuterie chefs in town.

“I definitely look to David for creative input and for him to pass on his previous experience to help us grow as a restaurant,” Dissen says. “I think with him and I collaborating together, the sky’s the limit with what Haymaker has in store for 2021.”

Quintana joined the Haymaker team this week.

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