A chef is a professional cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term chef de cuisine, the director or head of a kitchen. Chefs can receive formal training from an institution, as well as by apprenticing with an experienced chef.
Thomas Aloysius Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. 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 was a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World; the voting process has since been changed to disallow previous winners from being considered.
The French Laundry is a three-Michelin-star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredients; she was a visionary chef and pioneer of California cuisine. Since 1994, the chef and owner of The French Laundry is Thomas Keller. The restaurant building dates from 1900 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Ron Siegel is an American chef who formerly worked in San Francisco. In August 2012, it was announced he was joining San Francisco restaurant, Michael Mina, as executive chef. He had been Chef of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, taking over for Chef Sylvain Portray in 2004. Siegel is perhaps best known for his 1998 appearance on Iron Chef, becoming the first ever U.S. citizen to win in Kitchen Stadium. His cooking style is known for blending haute French cuisine with subtle Japanese touches.
Timothy Hollingsworth is an American chef and restaurateur. In 2012, he left his post as Chef de Cuisine at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry and moved to Los Angeles, where he opened Otium. He has won multiple awards throughout his career, including the 2010 James Beard Foundation's Rising Chef of the Year Award, the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Rising Star Chef, and the 2009 Bocuse d'Or, where he placed sixth. He was the winner of the 2018 cooking competition The Final Table.
Michelle Mah is the director of operations for The Slanted Door Group in San Francisco, California. She was previously the chef de cuisine at The Slanted Door, consulting chef at The Brixton, and executive chef at Midi.
Gilles Epié is a French chef who was the youngest chef in the world to receive a Michelin Star at the age of 22. He was the owner and executive chef of Citrus Etoile restaurant in Paris near the Champs-Élysées which he operated with his wife Elizabeth from 2005 to 2017. As of 2022, he works as the executive chef of L'Avant-Garde, a modern French brasserie in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., which was named one of the "Very Best Restaurants" by Washingtonian magazine. He is a member of l'Académie culinaire de France.
David Kinch is an American chef and restaurateur. He owned and operated Manresa, a restaurant in Los Gatos, California, which was awarded three Michelin stars in 2016. Kinch's California cuisine has strong French, Catalan and Japanese influences. Kinch opened a second restaurant in Los Gatos, called The Bywater, on January 12, 2016.
Auberge du Soleil is a restaurant and resort in Rutherford, California, operated by Auberge Resorts. The restaurant and room interiors were created by California designer Michael Taylor. Their first chef was Masataka Kobayashi, who later founded Masa's in San Francisco. Auberge started as a restaurant in 1983, later adding the resort. It was ranked fifth in the top ten resorts in the US by Condé Nast Traveler in 2013.
Julian Serrano is a Spanish chef who lives and works in the United States. He first gained attention in San Francisco and is now most active in Las Vegas.
Thomas McNaughton is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He is the chef and owner of Flour + Water, Penny Roma, Flour + Water Pasta Shop, and Flour + Water Pizzeria in San Francisco, California.
The Table is a restaurant at Colaba, Mumbai, India, known for serving San Francisco style globally inspired cuisine. It was established by Jay Yousuf and Gauri Devidayal in early 2011.
Harvest Moon Cafe was a New American restaurant in Sonoma, California in the United States. The restaurant closed in September 2019 after thirteen years of service.
El Dorado Kitchen is a restaurant and bar located in Sonoma, California in the United States. It is located on the property of the El Dorado Inn in downtown Sonoma.
A16 is an Italian restaurant in California. There are two locations: the original location in San Francisco and a second location in Oakland. The restaurant's cuisine focuses on the Italian region of Campania. In 2014, the restaurant was named to the Top 100 Restaurants in San Francisco list by Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Dominique Crenn is a French chef. As of 2016, she was the only female chef in the United States to attain three Michelin stars, for her restaurant Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco. Crenn has been featured in several Food Network and other television shows.
Cafe La Haye is a restaurant in Sonoma, California in the United States. It was opened by owner Saul Gropman in 1996. When Michael Bauer was food critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, Cafe La Haye was a perennial listing in his annual Top 100 restaurants list and one of his favorite restaurants in Wine Country. Cafe La Haye sources food produced within 60 miles of the restaurant.
Joyce Goldstein is an American chef and two-time James Beard Foundation Award winner. She ran the influential San Francisco-based restaurant Square One between 1984 and 1996.
Casey Thompson is an American chef and restaurateur from Dallas, Texas. Since 2020, she is the executive chef at Folktable, a restaurant in Sonoma, California.
(Michelin Guide)