Chef Donnie Ferneau always had a nose for the culinary arts.
“My mom said that, from a young age, I would always smell everything before I ate it,” he says. “I’ve got a heck of a sniffer on me, and that works hand in hand with your palate, so I began to understand the flavor wheel and the fun of layering flavors.”
For Ferneau, food has always been about memories and relationships. Growing up in the Midwest, he recalls picking strawberries with his grandmother and sitting down to dinners of fried cube steak or boiled ham with rutabagas and cabbage.
Ferneau left the family kitchen to attend Kirkwood Culinary Academy and apprenticed under acclaimed chef Philippe Forcioli. But it was his love of family that paved the road to Arkansas when he moved here to be closer to them.
“I wanted to have a career, but Sunday dinner just tastes different when there’s no family around,” Ferneau says. “Having dinner with my brothers and my mom and dad was the big push. And I’m glad I did because it’s a great place to live.”
He wasted no time bringing his take on cuisine to the Little Rock community, serving as a chef in several popular restaurants before opening Ferneau’s in 2004.
“[Little Rock] had fine dining and had bars, but there was nowhere in between where people could get dressed up after work and have a glass of wine like in the bigger cities, and that was my vision,” Ferneau says.
He sold his shares of the restaurant in 2012 to embark on new ventures, including the popular Cathead’s Diner. Like so many restaurants, the pandemic dug the diner into a financial hole that was hard to overcome.
Closing the restaurant was hard, but Ferneau says the pandemic forced him to slow down and allowed him and his wife Meaghan to spend more quality time together and start their own family.
But the pace is picking back up this spring. A two-time winner himself, Ferneau is once again sharpening his competitive chops to compete in Diamond Chef Arkansas on April 3.
The “Iron Chef”-style competition is the signature fundraising event for the University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College Foundation and raises funds for student scholarships, success initiatives, supplies and equipment for culinary and hospitality degree programs.
This year marks the showdown’s first full return since 2019, and with an exciting new format where seven former champions will pair up with students to compete live in front of an audience.
If watching the competition has guests salivating, they can visit tasting stations provided by local restaurants and vote for their favorites before joining the culinary-focused silent auction.
“Diamond Chef Arkansas gives the UA-PTC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management leaders the opportunity to showcase our culinary school and our students,” says Melissa Hendricks, vice chancellor for advancement and executive director of the UA-PTC Foundation. “Guests can expect a fun, entertaining, informal celebration of culinary excellence and future culinarians being trained right here in central Arkansas.”
“Diamond Chef Arkansas is unique in that it directly impacts the restaurant industry by providing support to UA-PTC students who will go on to lead that industry in the future,” says Kelli Marks, a current culinary instructor at UA-PTC and former business partner with Ferneau at Cathead’s.
And a big piece of that support is in providing mentorship opportunities with previous winners, including well-established chefs like Andre Poirot, formerly of Capriccio Grill and 42 Bar and Table, and Mary Beth Ringgold of Cajun’s Wharf, Capers and Copper Grill fame.
Ferneau is excited to return to his old stomping grounds.
“I’m excited to see my friends again,” he says. “I’m excited to get the knife out and have that competitive edge again.”
Of course, the undercurrent of Ferneau’s passion for food has always been family. And now, as a husband and father, his priorities have once again landed back at home. He’s transitioned to the corporate side of the kitchen to allow for a better work-life balance and serves as a culinary business specialist for Sysco Foods while continuing to cater and consult privately.
Over the years, his food has delighted high-profile clients such as Bill Clinton, Warren Buffett and Gordon Ramsay, with Ramsay even featuring him as a culinary expert on one of his shows.
Ferneau’s newest client, his 20-month-old daughter Zuzu, already has quite a palate — even eating sardines and smoked oysters.
“It’s all about the food journey still, but I guess I’m not as exciting as I used to be,” Ferneau laughs.
He’s donned many labels, whether as champion of Diamond Chef Arkansas, voted best chef in Soirée’s past Platinum Service Awards or even his newest title: “Dad.” But it’s clear Ferneau’s focus is on the future.
“What I’m truly hoping to get out of this is the chance to inspire some of the youth and students,” he says. “I hope this competition reenergizes some of these young culinarians and helps them achieve their dreams.”
Diamond Chef Arkansas
Benefiting the UA-PTC Foundation
April 3, 6 p.m. | UA-PTC Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management Institute
Info: uaptc.edu/diamondchef