Amanda Freitag | |
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Born | New Jersey, U.S. | May 11, 1972
Nationality | American |
Education | The Culinary Institute of America |
Occupation(s) | Celebrity chef, reality show judge |
Culinary career | |
Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
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Television show(s)
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Amanda Freitag (born May 11, 1972) is an American celebrity chef and cookbook author. She is known for her frequent appearances on Food Network television programs and her work as a judge on television cooking competitions. She is based in New York City.
Freitag was raised in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. [1] She attended Cedar Grove High School, then known as Memorial High School, where her home economics teacher, Joan Levine, suggested that Freitag might be interested in attending the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). [2] Freitag attended CIA at the Hyde Park location, graduating in 1989. [3] [4]
Following graduation in 1989, Freitag took a position at Vong New York working under chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. In 1994, she left Vong to cook at Verbena, under chef Diane Forley. Freitag has stated that her time at Verbena was meaningful and she built important relationships, [5] and where she first learned to focus on using local, organic ingredients. After Verbena, Freitag traveled to France and Italy, working for a short while at L'Arpège restaurant under chef Alain Passard in 1999. [6]
In 2003, Freitag and restaurateur Godfrey Polistina opened the Upper West Side restaurant Cesca Enoteca & Trattoria. [7] Freitag was chef de cuisine at Cesca, before moving to an executive chef position at The Harrison. [8] [9] On September 3, 2010, The New York Times reported that Freitag would be leaving the Harrison, and the restaurant's owner, Jimmy Bradley, will return as chef.
From January 2014 until July 2015, Freitag took over as executive chef of the Empire Diner in Manhattan, New York. [10]
In September 2020, Freitag and Kevin Lillis’ Hospitality Alliance opened the bistro Rise & Thyme in Dallas, Texas. [7] [11]
Since 2009, Freitag is a frequent judge on the culinary reality game show Chopped . [12]
In 2009, She battled Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America in “Battle: King Crab” (season 7, episode 10), with judges Keyshawn Johnson, Maggie Rodriguez, and Domenica Catelli. She narrowly lost, with a score of 49 against Flay's 50 points. The judging was evenly matched, with the exception of Freitag having earned one point fewer in the "taste" category. [6] [13]
Freitag competed in The Next Iron Chef Season 2, finishing in fourth place. Freitag stated she would continue as a judge on Chopped for the 2010 season and she returned for the season four episode "Against the Tide". [14]
On the April 15, 2012 episode of Iron Chef America , Freitag appeared alongside Chopped Grand Champion Madison Cowan in "Battle: Kale", [15] acting as Cowan's sous chef. She appeared as a contestant on season five of The Next Iron Chef . She lost to Alexandra Guarnaschelli in the finale on December 23.
On May 22, 2015, she and Ty Pennington began hosting the new Food Network series American Diner Revival, on which they make over diners' menus and interiors. [16]
Masaharu Morimoto is a Japanese chef, best known as an Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show Iron Chef and its spinoff Iron Chef America. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food.
The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is an American private college and culinary school specializing in culinary, baking, and pastry arts education. The school's primary campus is located in Hyde Park, New York, with branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to teach culinary arts in the United States, offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees, and has the largest staff of American Culinary Federation Certified Master Chefs. The CIA also offers continuing education for professionals in the hospitality industry as well as conferences and consulting services. The college additionally offers recreational classes for non-professionals. The college operates student-run restaurants on its four U.S. campuses.
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