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Corey Cova started working in restaurants at 13, cooked aboard a U.S. Navy submarine, and earned his bachelor’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Along the way, he worked with chefs he’d grown up watching on TV and cooked at Momofuku Ssäm Bar before deciding he needed a few places of his own. He opened Earl’s Beer & Cheese, ABV, Lord Hamm’s and Dough Loco in Manhattan, then headed to California to open Porkchop Slims just before 2020. His timing could have been better.

Now in Cincinnati, Corey and his wife, Kelly, are building Mister Gnarley through small dinners and collaborations with local producers. Their approach to hospitality includes taking good care of people and feeding them slightly more than they asked for.