At the age of 15, Jared Heider knew he wanted to work in a professional kitchen. Starting as a dishwasher in a local restaurant, he worked his way up to the hot line, running the kitchen when the chef was not there. In January 2013, Heider began as a student in the Ace Program at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Upon graduation in March 2013, Heider returned to Louisiana and staged at several New Orleans restaurants, including Cochon. In May of that year, he began his full-time career at Cochon, working quickly through the stations and soon becoming the butcher. On his days off, Heider came in to learn more from the butchers at Cochon Butcher. He later became the head butcher at Cochon Butcher and began to butcher for the entire company, including salamis for Gianna. Heider was ready to get back into the kitchen in 2018, so he took on the sous chef position at Cochon. When the opportunity at Gianna became available, his companywide experience and food knowledge made him the perfect candidate for the job. Heider’s extended family background includes relatives from Sicily, Italy, and he has spent time touring Sicily and Rome on food and wine research trips.