Kyle Knall is the Culinary Director at Stone Bank Farms and Chef and Co-Owner of Birch, which he runs with his wife and business partner, Meghan Knall. At Birch, Kyle spotlights ingredients sourced exclusively from the region in an open-hearth setting while prioritizing delicious, honest cooking and sustainability. Kyle and Meghan are deepening their commitment to Milwaukee with their next concept, CASSIS, a French bistro opening in the Third Ward in January 2026.<\/p>\n
His work has contributed to the rapid transformation of Milwaukee\u2019s dining scene and earned impressive accolades, including a semi-finalist nomination for \u201cBest Chef: Midwest\u201d (2024, 2025) and \u201cOutstanding Chef\u201d (2022) by the James Beard Foundation and a nod for Birch on The New York Times coveted list of the best restaurants in America, \u201cThe Restaurant List\u201d in 2023, where Kyle\u2019s cooking is celebrated as \u201cworldly Midwestern cuisine free of clich\u00e9s.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Birmingham native has always had a passion for food, one rooted in the traditions of the American South. After studying at Culinard, Knall went to work for industry luminaries Frank Stitt at Chez Fonfon and Highlands Bar & Grill, Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern, and Stephen Starr at Electric Lemon.<\/p>\n
Earlier in his career, he was a partner of Maysville in New York where he received a two-star review from The New York Times, which praised his \u201cunderstated American style … a winning blend of the refined and the unpretentious.\u201d The accolades continued as Kyle and his partners opened the now-closed Kenton\u2019s in New Orleans, which was hailed \u201cBest New Restaurant\u201d by New Orleans Magazine within a year of opening.<\/p>\n
Kyle and Meghan currently live in Fox Point with their son, Aidan, and daughter, Madeline. They are dedicated to giving back to their community and actively support causes, including the Kinship Community Food Center, St. Marcus Lutheran School, Milwaukee Public Museum, and the Alma Center, among others.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":8237,"template":"","class_list":["post-8236","chef","type-chef","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chef\/8236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chef"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chef"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southernsmoke.org\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}