“I DON’T CARE about being chef of the year. I care that you take a bite, close your eyes, and remember it,” says Willie Price, executive chef at Vyne, the restaurant inside Carmel’s newly opened The Tallison Hotel.
Under his leadership, Vyne has earned a reputation for defying hotel food expectations, a reflection of a career built in restaurants throughout Indiana. Born in Gary, a 16-year-old Price began washing dishes at a pizza chain before ascending the ranks of Indianapolis’s hotel scene, including stops at the Marriott and The Alexander. After an executive chef role at a Bloomington business, he found direction and mentorship at Indy’s downtown Marriott.
There he met Daniel Carter, the first Black chef Price had ever worked under. “He believed in me before I believed in myself,” Price says. “That changed everything.”
Over his three-decade career, Price has also worked alongside respected Indy chefs Tony Hanslits, Jeremy Martindale, and David Kay in places ranging from high-volume banquet halls to small-batch kitchens. Every stop added depth to his cooking, he says, making his food layered, soulful, and rooted in his personal experience.
As Vyne’s founding chef, Price did it all: unboxed equipment, oversaw kitchen construction, and wrote the menu from scratch. Buzz is growing about his modern take on hearty Hoosier fare, like a boldly seasoned 12-ounce tomahawk pork chop and steaks that give downtown’s chophouses a run for their money.
Chatter is also growing for his side business, Chef B’s Wraps & Sandwiches, a favorite at festivals and events. The operation’s name is a nod to his childhood nickname, “Boo.”
But since its opening in March, Vyne has been Price’s main focus. “When someone says they didn’t expect food like this from a hotel, that’s everything,” Price says. From what we hear, they’re saying that a lot.
