Benu is a three-Michelin star restaurant located in the SoMa district of downtown San Francisco opened in 2010 by chef Corey Lee, the former head chef at the French Laundry. Benu made the list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2019.
Jerry Traunfeld is an American chef and author who served as the executive chef of The Herbfarm restaurant in Woodinville, Washington from July 1990 to November 2007. Prior to that he was the executive chef of the Alexis Hotel in Seattle and a pastry chef at Jeremiah Tower's Stars in San Francisco.
The Inn at Little Washington is a luxury country inn and restaurant located in Washington, Virginia. Patrick O'Connell and Reinhardt Lynch founded the Inn in a former garage in 1978. It has been a member of the Relais & Châteaux hotel group since 1987.
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.
Alessandro Stratta is a celebrity chef and restaurateur of mixed Italian and French heritage. Stratta played the role of Iron Chef Italian on the television show Iron Chef USA. He was the recipient of the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef Southwest in 1998 and was executive chef and owner of his famous namesake restaurant, Alex, in Las Vegas until its closure on January 15, 2011. He was later diagnosed with colon cancer and became a cancer survivor. He was the executive chef and owner of "Tapas by Alex Stratta" in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin, until it closed in 2015. In 2016, Stratta became executive chef de cuisine at Prado restaurant at the Omni Hotel in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Thierry Rautureau, nicknamed The Chef In The Hat, is the chef/owner of restaurants, Loulay and Luc, in Seattle, Washington.
Kelly Liken is an American chef and restaurant owner. She has appeared as a contestant on the television shows Top Chef, and Iron Chef America.
Matt Dillon is an American chef and restaurateur in Seattle, Washington.
Picasso is a two Michelin star restaurant run by chef Julian Serrano in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The name is derived from the artist Pablo Picasso and features the artist's paintings throughout the restaurant. The cuisine of Picasso is French with a Spanish influence, and the restaurant is known for its reinvention and interpretation of these cuisines. Today, the restaurant holds two Michelin stars, the AAA Five-Diamond Award, a 28/30 rating from the Zagat guide, the Wine Spectator Grand Award since 2001, and is considered to be one of the finest restaurants in the United States.
Canlis is a fine dining restaurant serving New American cuisine in Seattle, Washington. Situated in the Queen Anne neighborhood, the restaurant has views of Gas Works Park and the Cascade Mountains. It was built by Peter Canlis in 1950, and remains family-owned. The restaurant currently employs 94 people.
Sepia is a mid-sized, upscale restaurant run by owner Emmanuel Nony and Executive Chef Andrew Zimmerman located in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Chef Zimmerman's menu is classified as New American cuisine, and focuses on local, seasonal products. Built in Chicago's Warehouse District, Sepia was originally a print shop from the 1890s. The renovation for the restaurant, designed by Gary Lee, included putting in a custom-tile, Art Nouveau floor and hand-crafted millwork in order to enhance the historical qualities of the building. Sepia also uses vintage stemware for their tables matching the vintage interior decor of the restaurant.
Bradley Ogden is a Traverse City, Michigan chef who manages Bradley Ogden Hospitality.
Maria Hines is a Seattle restaurateur and James Beard Award-winning chef. She's also the co-author of the cook book Peak Nutrition: Smart Fuel for Outdoor Adventure.
Ray's Boathouse is a restaurant in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States, located on Shilshole Bay along the Puget Sound shoreline. It is noted for its seafood and views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, and has been listed as one of the city's top restaurants alongside The Herbfarm. It appeared in 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die, and has featured on lists of tourist destinations by Moon Guides (Williams), Fodor's and Frommer's, among others.
Chris Coombs is an American chef and restaurateur who specializes in French-American cuisine. He is the co-owner of Boston Urban Hospitality, a restaurant group based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Edouardo Jordan is an American chef and restaurateur based in Seattle, Washington.
