Chef James Tuckey on Spaghetti, Spirits, and Why Columbus Keeps Raising the Bar

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By Eric Barton | Aug. 13, 2025

AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.

When you ask chef James Tuckey where it all began, he doesn’t talk about culinary school or some pivotal stage in Europe. He goes back to Chardon, Ohio, where his mom’s spaghetti and meatballs hit the table nearly every Sunday. It was less about the recipe than the ritual: food as a reason for people to gather, a memory maker disguised as dinner.

Now, after 24 years in kitchens ranging from small-town bars to private country clubs, Tuckey is chef at Service Bar, the restaurant inside Middle West Spirits. It’s one of the anchors of the Columbus dining scene, where he oversees a menu designed to match the distillery’s craft cocktails. The job pulls together the threads of his career—precision, polish, and a willingness to push for new flavors.

Chef James Tuckey

Tuckey’s first kitchen gig was in a Chardon bar and grill, where he worked the line with his best friend. It wasn’t glamorous, but the adrenaline stuck. “There’s nothing quite like the rush of a packed service,” he told me. At the end of the night, seeing guests enjoy the food sealed it. The satisfaction outweighed the chaos, and he knew he’d found his lane.

That early energy carried him through the structured environments of country clubs and corporate kitchens, where he learned discipline and high standards. Those lessons became a foundation—but at Service Bar, he also found freedom. “It’s about balancing hard work with fun,” he said. “Consistency, efficiency, and creativity all have to live together.”

Lamb with chimichurri and sweet potato

Private clubs taught him polish. Downtown Columbus taught him adaptability. The common denominator: never lowering standards, regardless of who’s in the dining room. That blend shows up in Service Bar’s menu, where dishes play to both the distillery’s spirits and Tuckey’s curiosity. He’s constantly looking outward for inspiration. Recently it was naengmyeon, a Korean chilled noodle dish that stopped him in his tracks. “The flavors were so refreshing, perfect for a hot summer day,” he said. Those discoveries fuel the next round of experiments in his kitchen.

Kashira yakitori

Calamari bolognese

Tuckey sees food and spirits as natural connectors, the excuse people use to sit down together. At Service Bar, he gets to watch it happen every night—conversations loosening over cocktails, plates passed around, a buzz in the room that’s part hospitality, part alchemy. “That energy never gets old,” he said.

It helps that Columbus itself seems primed for that energy. “There’s a collective vibe here to keep pushing forward,” he said. The city wants newness, and restaurants like his thrive on meeting that demand.

On nights off, Tuckey and his wife will try a new restaurant or catch a festival, usually with their dog in tow. It’s the flip side of his life in the kitchen, a way to recharge. “Those days outside the restaurant keep me balanced,” he said. They also remind him why he cooks in the first place: to create the kind of meals that stick with you, like Sunday spaghetti in Chardon.