Hotel Covington, the hotel on Madison Avenue that is built on a sense of place, has hired a new chef. Mitch Arens grew up down the road in Hebron, learned his chops at local restaurants in the Boca Restaurant Group and cooked in New Orleans and Cajun country before returning home.

He’s overseeing Coppin’s Restaurant, the walk-up window in the alley, the coffee bar, the Courtyard and all the private functions at the hotel.

After training at Sullivan University, Arens helped open Nada, then was sous chef at Boca. He moved to Louisiana in 2010, where he learned the down-to-earth art of Cajun cooking on a friend’s farm and restaurant just outside Lafayette, then worked with Donald Link in New Orleans at Calcasieu. He was most recently executive chef at Cochon Butcher.

See the original article here.