John Tesar grew up in the Hamptons with a passion for cooking stirred by his mother's family meals. During college, John was further inspired after working for several restaurants in the Hamptons and made the choice to leave New York University to go to Paris and study French cuisine at the esteemed La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine. He returned to the Hamptons and bought his first restaurant at the age of 24. Although John was experiencing a successful career in the Hamptons he pursued his dream of opening a restaurant in New York City.

After rolling up his sleeves in the kitchens of New York's hottest, trendiest restaurants, John opened his first New York restaurant, 13 Barrow Street and received glowing reviews. Next, he opened Vine restaurant on Wall Street and managed 44 & X Hell's Kitchen. John was named Executive Chef of the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in 2006 where over the next several years he won many accolades including Four Mobil stars, AAA Five Diamonds and five-stars for the Mansion Restaurant by the Dallas Morning News food critic, Bill Addison. John Tesar was most recently Consulting Chef of Cedars Social and The Commissary is Tesar's newest venture.