Jake grew up on a tidal river in southeastern Massachusetts with a long history of shipbuilding. He comes from a family of artists and mariners. At 24, while working in the tallest library in the western hemisphere he created an archive about the history of chowder. The project was recognized by the James Beard Foundation. He has cooked bbq in a small roadside trailer, has made a decoction of dittany in the hills of Ikaria, and has served wine to Kim Gordon. On the water, he has cooked on the surface of the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of Maine, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mystic, the Mississippi, and the Caribbean Sea.