James Andrews Beard was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, Oregon, and lectured widely. He emphasized American cooking, prepared with fresh, wholesome, American ingredients, to a country just becoming aware of its own culinary heritage. Beard taught and mentored generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. He published more than twenty books, and his memory is honored by his foundation's annual James Beard Awards.
Sara Moulton is an American 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".
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.
Marcus Samuelsson is an Ethiopian-born Swedish-American celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is the head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.
Rick Bayless is an American chef and restaurateur who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is widely known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time. Among his various accolades are a Michelin star, the title of Top Chef Master, and seven James Beard Awards.
Stephan Pyles is a chef, cookbook author, philanthropist, and educator. Pyles is also one of the founding fathers of Southwestern cuisine. His dishes blend elements of Southern homestyle cooking, Southwestern fare, Mexican food and Tex-Mex food, as well as Cajun cuisine and Creole cookery. Pyles, along with his colleagues, Dean Fearing, Robert Del Grande, and Anne Lindsay Greer contributed to changes in the cuisine of the U.S. states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Pyles spent more than 25 years in the Dallas restaurant circuit, and was further the main creator of New Texas Cuisine. His first two restaurants were the business casual Routh Street Cafe which was founded in 1983 as well as a miniature version of said restaurant called Baby Routh. These restaurants are known for being the flagship of the Southwestern Cuisine explosion of the 1980s and 1990s. Since opening Routh Street Cafe, Pyles has opened some 15 restaurants, including Samar in the fall of 2009.
Wylie Dufresne is the chef and owner of Du's Donuts and the former chef and owner of the wd~50 and Alder restaurants in Manhattan. Dufresne is a leading American proponent of molecular gastronomy, the movement to incorporate science and new techniques in the preparation and presentation of food.
Nancy Silverton is an American chef, baker, and author. The winner of the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef Award in 2014, Silverton is recognized for her role in popularizing sourdough and artisan breads in the United States.
Tom Douglas is an American executive chef, restaurateur, author, and radio talk show host. He is known for winning the 1994 James Beard Award for Best Northwest Chef. In 2012 he also won the James Beard Award as Best Restaurateur. He is the author of Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen, which was named the Best American Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation and KitchenAid, in 2001. In 2005, he appeared on an episode of the Food Network's Iron Chef America, in which he defeated Chef Masaharu Morimoto.
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 until 2027.
Marcel Desaulniers is an American chef who was part-owner of the Trellis Restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia, a cookbook author, director Emeritus of the Culinary Institute of America, and self-described "Guru of Ganache". He is the author of the 1992 book Death by Chocolate.
Alexandra Marie Guarnaschelli is an American chef. She currently serves as an executive chef at New York City's Butter restaurant and was executive chef at The Darby restaurant before its closing. She appears as a television personality on the Food Network shows The Kitchen, Chopped, Iron Chef America, All Star Family Cook-off, Guy's Grocery Games, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. She hosts Alex's Day Off, The Cooking Loft, and Supermarket Stakeout on Food Network and Cooking Channel.. In 2012, she won that season of The Next Iron Chef: Redemption. In January 2022, she premiered her newest show, Alex vs. America, also on Food Network.
Irena Chalmers-Taylor was an author and food commentator/essayist, teacher and culinary mentor. Named "the culinary oracle of 100 cookbooks" by noted American restaurant critic and journalist, Gael Greene, Chalmers was recognized as the pioneer of the single subject cookbook. Her life story revealed an unlikely journey to becoming a James Beard Foundation "Who's Who" of Food and Beverage in America 1988 Award Recipient.
Hugh Acheson is a Canadian-born chef and restaurateur. He owns four restaurants in Georgia, and serves as a judge on the reality cooking competition show Top Chef, and as an Iron Chef on Iron Chef Canada.
Joseph 'JJ' Johnson is a James Beard Foundation Book Award winning chef and author best known for cooking the food of the African Diaspora. He is a Chef on Buzzfeed's Tasty platform and a television host on Just Eats with Chef JJ airing on TV One's new network Cleo TV.
Bradley Ogden is a Traverse City, Michigan chef who manages Bradley Ogden Hospitality.
Michael Solomonov is an Israeli chef and restaurateur, known for his Philadelphia restaurant Zahav. He won the James Beard Foundation awards for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2011, Cookbook of the Year in 2016, and Outstanding Chef in 2017.
Francis Lam is an American food journalist, cookbook editor, and since 2017 the host of American Public Media's The Splendid Table.
Alon Shaya is an Israeli-American celebrity chef and restaurant owner. He is the author of several cookbooks and the owner of a hospitality and restaurant consulting business, Pomegranate Hospitality.
