Maynards Market and Kitchen at 400 N. Toole Ave. has brought Addam Buzzalini on board as the new executive chef, according to Richard Oseran, who owns the restaurant/market and the Hotel Congress across the street.

“He’s very talented, he’s very passionate and he’s going to take us to where we want to go,” Oseran said, adding that Buzzalini will eventually head up operations at The Cup Café inside Hotel Congress as well.

Buzzalini was the chef at jaxKitchen (7286 N. Oracle Road) before his new gig downtown. Prior to that, he was the executive chef at Seattle’s Collins Pub and a souse chef at Café Presse, also in Seattle.

“My philosophy is everything is fresh, everything comes from scratch. I don’t use frozen food or dried herbs or anything like that,” Buzzalini said, adding that he uses locally grown produce and meats whenever possible. “You could put it like this: I live downtown, and there’s a need for something unique and spectacular down here,” he said. “So we’re definitely going to kick it up a bit.”

Plans are also underway to offer some of Buzzalini’s creations – such as an authentic Neapolitan pizza dough – and a number of the cheeses and meats he uses in his kitchen as take-away items in the market at Maynards, which already features an ample selection of locally-produced items.

Buzzalini will unveil an abbreviated menu – which includes a slow-braised beef short rib osso buco and a local-ale roasted half chicken - for dinner on Thursday, Feb. 5, with a fully revamped menu coming out several weeks later.