Jori Jayne Emde

Jori Jayne Emde is a Chef, Culinary Historian and Food Scientist. Her specialties are fermentation and alchemy with a focus on terroir.  Jori practices her unique process of whole utilization: maximizing the yield from each ingredient through the processes of fermentation, preservation, and extraction.

An Austin, TX native, Jori completed an associate degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu before moving to New York City. She began her career working at the two Batali/Bastianich establishments Lupa Osteria Romana and Esca. In 2004, Jori began working with Zakary Pelaccio, first at 5 Ninth Restaurant and then at Fatty Crab.  

In 2011, Jori and Zak moved to the Hudson Valley and renovated a 150-year-old carriage house that became the award-winning Fish & Game. She was Co-Chef and responsible for the restaurant's impressive larder of ferments and preserves, both sweet and savory. That same year, Jori started her brand, Lady Jayne’s Alchemy.  In 2019  Fish & Game was listed in Esquire's 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade.

In 2020, Fish & Game closed. Jori and Zak moved to Taos, New Mexico, where she launched her comprehensive online fermentation school, Lady Jayne's Alchemy School of Funk.