Growing up in New Jersey, Nathan Gould helped around the kitchen as his mother and grandmother cooked traditional French meals. By age 11, he was replicating their recipes best he could. In 2004, Gould enrolled at Johnson & Wales University, with a concentration in culinary nutrition and a stage with Barbara Lynch Gruppo.

Through college, he cooked for Nassau Street Catering, the Scheide Fund, and Joss & Jules Boutique Catering back home in Princeton, eventually becoming executive chef of the latter two by 2012, as well as culinary manager for Princeton University’s dining services. During this time Gould earned his degree from J&W (class of ’07) and in 2009 went back to school at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to pursue a masters in sports nutrition and exercise science. He continued to cook on the side, working in a year’s stint as sous chef at Cruz Bay Prime, part of The Westin resort on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

In 2013, Gould moved to another island, Martha’s Vineyard, to become executive sous chef of the Harbor View Hotel. In less than a year, he was promoted to executive chef, bringing “island-to-table” cuisine to the sprawling property.Back on the mainland, Chef Gould spent several years as chef de cuisine at O Ya in Boston. In 2020, now named a Starchefs Rising Star, he returned to Martha’s Vineyard, opening MV Smokehouse, a wood-fire concept highlighting the bounty of Coastal New England.