12 People You Need to Know in 2015: John Allen

That John Allen would work with food was never in doubt. That he would survive to thrive while working with food was.

The executive chef at Aviary Cafe and Creperie downtown and Aviary Cafe and Patisserie at Farmers Park was born with food DNA and grew up in kitchens. His mother owned a restaurant in California where his grandmother was chef, and his grandfather knew his way around a firehouse stove.

But he and trouble met early.

Restaurants attract people who run on adrenaline, work long days and party hard, a dicey mix for a teenager. Allen developed a drug addiction; stints in rehabilitation followed.

After a relapse, the ambition he credits his father for giving him kicked in, and he chose Teen Challenge, a Christian-based, live-in rehab in California. He would chase his dream of running a kitchen.

“I went on my own,” Allen says. “My family was super supportive. I think that was the main thing. My mom told me she spent every night on her knees praying for me. My dad was there, too.”

Allen’s Teen Challenge counselor knew about faith-based Victory Trade School’s culinary arts program, which accepts people who have been sober at least a year. Allen left Los Angeles’ balmy 67 degrees, landing in a snowy Springfield in early 2010.

It was a “twist of fate” later that he met Mark and Debbie Burgess, novice restaurateurs seeking a chef. Allen borrowed VTS kitchen space and whipped up several culinary creations for the couple. He got the gig and has helped shaped the direction of Aviary Cafe since its inception in 2011.

It’s his kitchen, his culture, his rules. He gives people opportunities, but he won’t tolerate undesirable behavior. He also gets to follow his passion his way, where prepackaged food is eschewed in favor of raw products.

“I guess I kind of came up in the central California scene of knowing what your food is and where it came from,” Allen says.

It’s a “logistical nightmare” to source ingredients this way in the Ozarks – although Allen now knows dandelion greens are available at a hydroponic farm near Branson. But he refuses to sacrifice the vision for Aviary, which, in addition to two locations, a food truck and a growing catering side, includes opening in another city at some point.

Allen says almost 65 percent of Springfield restaurant patrons are women – it’s about 50 percent nationally – and Aviary caters to them while also providing options for men.

“If you want to compete with national chains, you have to have something different. We stand out like a sore thumb in every good way possible,” he says, adding Springfield is an up-and-coming restaurant city.

Not only is he thriving in his chosen industry, Allen also has achieved another goal: He is part owner of Aviary. He’s married with a new baby, and his immediate family has moved to the Ozarks, too.

“The American dream is still alive and well in Missouri,” says Allen.