(FOX40.COM) — Adam Pechal, a local chef who rose to fame on Anthony Bourdain’s “The Taste,” will appear in court Friday after being arrested on felony domestic violence charges.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Pechal’s partner Wednesday night at about 11 p.m., Sgt. Edward Igoe told FOX40. She told deputies he had physically assaulted her.
Update: Citing ‘insufficient evidence,’ Sacramento DA drops charges against celebrity chef
Deputies arrested Pechal without incident and he was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail after midnight on Thursday, where bail was set at $50,000. Jail records show he was booked for corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, a felony domestic violence offense.
Pechal, 50, is set to be arraigned Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Sacramento chef Adam Pechal shows off his Tuli Bistro menu at Tiger Restaurant in 2020. (FOX40)
The local chef came to fame in 2013 when he appeared on Season 1 of ABC’s “The Taste,” a cooking competition show hosted by the late Anthony Bourdain.
Locally, Pechal was known as the chef behind Tuli Bistro and Restaurant Thir13en, now-closed restaurants in Midtown and Downtown Sacramento. Most recently, he created the menu for Local Flights LLC, a new restaurant in the Sacramento International Airport.
The Sacramento Bee, which first reported the arrest, noted that social media posts show Pechal “now operates as a private chef, largely for private events and Sacramento Kings athletes, along with work as a consultant and educator.”
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News.