Le Jeune Chef Restaurant

Lifelong Education Center, Rm. B107 · For reservations phone (570) 320-CHEF or (570) 320-2433

Visiting Chef

* This biography was accurate at the time of the chef's last appearance on campus. (March 9, 2007)

Donald Barickman

Vice President, Hospitality Management Group and Executive Chef,

Magnolias, Charleston, SC

Located in the heart of historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, is the award winning Magnolias restaurant. Its "uptown presentation" of traditional "down South" dishes has led to rave reviews in Bon Appetite, Travel and Leisure and Southern Living, to name of few. The man behind this sensation is Chef Donald Barickman.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1985, Barickman quickly proved himself on Charleston's culinary scene. In 1987, he opened the trend-setting Carolina's Restaurant and, two years later, the popular Columbia's Restaurant, in Columbia, South Carolina, both for M.W Associates. In 1990, he became vice president of Hospitality Management Group, Inc., and took liver the executive chef reigns in launching Magnolias. Within thirty days of its opening, Magnolias was listed by the local newspaper as "the place to dine" in Charleston and was soon inducted into the elite group of "Distinguished Restaurants of North America."

In 1993, Barickman and Hospitality Management Group opened its second restaurant, Blossom Cafe, a Mediterranean-style bistro which was voted Charleston's best new restaurant in 1994.

Barickman recently served as guest chef at a dinner for the prestigious James Beard Foundation in New York City and appeared on "Robin Leach Talking Food" on the national TV Food Network. At just 33 years of age, he is proof positive that perseverance, dedication and creativity are winning ingredients for a dynamic career in the exciting culinary industry.