Amanda Hesser is an American food writer, editor, cookbook author and entrepreneur. Most notably, she was the food editor of The New York Times Magazine, the editor of T Living, a quarterly publication of The New York Times, author of The Essential New York Times Cookbook which was a New York Times bestseller, and co-founder and CEO of Food52.
Sara Moulton is an American chef, cookbook author and television personality. In an article for The New York Times, Kim Severson described Moulton as "one of the nation’s most enduring recipe writers and cooking teachers...and a dean of food television and magazines."
Thomas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The restaurant is a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World.
The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The programs run the gamut from elegant guest-chef dinners to scholarships for aspiring culinary students, educational conferences, and industry awards. In the spirit of James Beard's legacy, the Foundation not only creates programs that help educate people about American cuisine, but also support and promote the chefs and other industry professionals who are behind it.
The French Laundry is a French restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. The chef and owner of the French Laundry is Thomas Keller. The restaurant building dates from 1900 and is in the National Register of Historic Places.
Lidia Giuliana Matticchio Bastianich is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur. Specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine, Bastianich has been a regular contributor to public television cooking shows since 1998.
Food & Wine is an American monthly magazine published by Meredith Corporation. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and seasonal/holiday content and has been credited by The New York Times with introducing the dining public to "Perrier, the purple Peruvian potato and Patagonian toothfish".
Andrew Scott Zimmern is an American culinary expert, chef, restaurateur, television personality, radio personality, director, producer, entrepreneur, food critic, journalist, teacher, and author. Considered one of the most influential celebrity chefs in the world, Zimmern is known for being the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of the Travel Channel television series Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern,Bizarre Foods America, Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations, Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, Dining with Death, The Zimmern List, and Andrew Zimmern's Driven by Food, as well as the Food Network series The Big Food Truck Tip. For his work on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, he was presented the James Beard Foundation Award four times: in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2017. Zimmern also hosts a cooking webseries on YouTube titled Andrew Zimmern Cooks. Zimmern's new show, What's Eating America, premiered on MSNBC on February 16, 2020.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper is an American food writer and radio journalist. She was the host of the American Public Media program The Splendid Table, whose targeted audience is "people who love to eat." The weekly program features a series of interviews with chefs, restaurateurs, and wine experts. Guests vary from week to week, but the show frequently includes a segment with food travelers and authors Jane and Michael Stern. During her episode on February 10, 2017, Lynne announced her retirement from The Splendid Table. She has been replaced by former New York Times Magazine food columnist Francis Lam.
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize culinary professionals in the United States. The awards recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists each year, scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awards are presented at a dinner in New York City; the chef and restaurant awards were also presented in New York until 2015, when the Foundation's annual gala moved to Chicago. Chicago will continue to host the Awards up to 2027.
Stephanie Izard is an American chef and television personality residing in Chicago, Illinois, best known as the first female chef to win Bravo's Top Chef, taking the title during its fourth season. She is the co-owner and executive chef of three award-winning Chicago restaurants, Girl and the Goat, Little Goat, and Duck Duck Goat, and opened her first restaurant, Scylla as chef-owner at the age of 27. Izard received a James Beard Foundation Award for "Best Chef: Great Lakes" in 2013 for her work at Girl and the Goat. She has made a number of appearances on Top Chef since her win, both as a guest judge on subsequent seasons and as a participant in Top Chef Duels. In 2017, Izard competed in the Food Network series Iron Chef Gauntlet, where she overall defeated chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Symon, and Masaharu Morimoto to obtain the title of Iron Chef.
Christopher Lee is a chef who specializes in New American cuisine.
Thierry Rautureau, nicknamed The Chef In The Hat, is the chef/owner of restaurants, Loulay and Luc, in Seattle, Washington.
Melissa Perello is an American chef best known for holding a Michelin star at her restaurant Frances. She had previously won a star at restaurant Fifth Floor, and has won awards from both Chronicles and Food & Wine magazines.
Jennifer Yee is an American chef, specializing in pastry. Born and raised in San Francisco, she has worked in several pastry kitchens in some of New York’s finest restaurants, including Lafayette in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan as Patissière, and The Grill in midtown Manhattan's Seagram Building, as the opening Pastry Chef. She is currently the Executive Pastry Chef for Chef Linton Hopkins' restaurants in Atlanta.
Amy Thielen is a chef, food writer, and television personality who focuses on Midwestern cooking and food culture. She is the author of the James Beard award-winning cookbook The New Midwestern Table ISBN 978-0307954879 and Give a Girl a Knife ISBN 978-0307954909. She was also the host of Heartland Table, which debuted in September 2013 on Food Network; season two premiered in March 2014.
Patricia Jinich is an award-winning Mexican chef, TV personality, cookbook author, educator, and food writer. She is best known for her James Beard Award winning and Emmy nominated public television series Pati's Mexican Table. Her first cookbook, also Pati's Mexican Table, was published in March 2013 which also led to her own show on Fox Life made great appreciation. and her second cookbook, Mexican Today, was published in April 2016.
Katie Button is an American chef and restaurateur. She holds the title of Executive Chef and CEO of the restaurant group Katie Button Restaurants which includes Cúrate, Button & Co. Bagels, and Nightbell, all located in Asheville, North Carolina.
Francis Lam is an American food journalist, cookbook editor, and since 2017 the host of American Public Media's The Splendid Table.
Kate Williams is a chef and restaurateur in Detroit, Michigan, US. She owns and operates Lady of the House in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood. In 2018 Food + Wine named her one of America's best new chefs and GQ and Esquire named the restaurant to their lists of best new restaurants.
