Ziebold, who was born in Iowa, began working in restaurants as a teenager after school at Aunt Maude’s with mentor chef Matt Nichols.

Ziebold spent more time in the restaurant than in class while attending college at the University of Northern Iowa, and decided to transfer to the Culinary Institute of America.

[2] Ziebold was named one of the "10 most influential chefs working in America" by Forbes in 2007 alongside Dan Barber, Tom Colicchio, and Grant Achatz.

[6] Ziebold opened his first independent restaurant in December 2015, named Kinship and located at 1015 7th Street NW in the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood of Washington, DC.

[8] Kinship has a 55-seat dining room, 27-seat lounge, and 15-seat bar, and the name of the restaurant is explained on each menu: “Kinship, feeling of being close or connected to other people.” The menu is divided into five categories: craft (dishes that highlight a certain cooking technique), history (classics revisited), ingredients (think surf clams or Rohan duck), indulgence (the place to look for truffles and caviar), and “for the table” family-style platters, such as whole fish or a 12-ounce dry-aged ribeye.