Capital Grille’s Ray Comiskey is now chain’s corporate chef

The Capital Grille executive chef Ray Comiskey, a fixture at the upscale steakhouse on the Country Club Plaza for 14 years, has been promoted by corporate owner Darden Restaurants to be corporate chef for the 53-restaurant chain. He officially began his new position on January 1, but he won’t move full time to the company’s offices in Orlando, Florida, until May. “When the school year is over for my children,” he says.

“I’ll be responsible for the culinary side of all 53 restaurants including the developing of new dishes, opening new restaurants, and the hiring of new chefs,” Comiskey says.

Comiskey, whose 22-year tenure in Kansas City includes stints at Morton’s steakhouse and Joe D’s, will be replaced in the Kansas City kitchen by a Kansas Citian eager to return to his hometown: Matt Livers, a seven-year veteran of Capital Grille, will leave his current position at the Capital Grille in Miami to take over executive chef duties at the Plaza location.