Shane Ingram, Chef, Co-Owner

Chef Shane Ingram is a native of southern New Jersey, where he began his culinary career working in local restaurants while still in high school near Atlantic City. (Shane’s mom will proudly tell you that her son took Home Ec in high school instead of Shop!) After graduating from a small culinary school in Mays Landing, he spent five years cooking at the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, finishing his tour there at Ivana’s, the classical French room.

Following in the footsteps of his predecessor at Trump’s, the late Jamie Shannon of New Orleans’ venerable Commander’s Palace, he headed to the Big Easy where he landed a job at the recently opened Emeril’s. He spent two years working side-by-side with Chef Lagasse, whom Shane says really taught him how to cook. On Emeril’s recommendation, he later headed to Chicago to Charlie Trotter’s, where he spent two years. While there, he was fortunate enough to get to travel throughout the country with Charlie, cooking at various culinary events from New York to Napa Valley.

After Shane left Trotter’s he went to work for yet another renowned chef, Patrick O’Connell of The Inn at Little Washington in western Virginia. It was in the kitchen there that he met his wife, Elizabeth, who was the Pastry Chef at the time. The two of them spent a year in Little Washington, when they decided it was time to start thinking about opening their own place.

After marrying in Virginia and taking an extended European vacation (they ate their way across the continent), they moved to North Carolina where the economy was booming and the climate was right for starting a business. While getting to know the area and searching for the perfect location, Shane spent the next couple of years as Chef de Cuisine at The Fearrington House Inn and Restaurant south of Chapel Hill. In December of 1998, they stumbled upon the vacant Bartlett Mangum House in Durham and immediately knew they had found the perfect venue. They purchased the property in August of 1999 and, after renovations, Four Square opened its doors two months later.