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The
13th Annual
James Beard
Foundation Awards
Awards Gala
Gala Chefs |
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Awards Reception Executive Chef
Michael
McCarty
Proprietor, Michael's Santa Monica and
Michael's New York
Michael McCarty has long been a champion of American food at
his restaurants in Santa Monica and New York. It’s fitting,
then, that McCarty is serving as executive chef for the Awards
Gala celebrating Jim’s centennial. A forerunner in the
California cuisine movement, McCarty earned his Certificate
d’Aptitude Professionelle from the Ecole Hotelière
de Paris, the Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu, and a
diploma from the Academie du Vin. He also attended Cornell’s
Summer Hotel Program, and got a degree from the University of
Colorado. In 1979, the 25-year-old McCarty opened his namesake
restaurant in Santa Monica, California. In 1984, Cook’s
Magazine included him among its Top 50 “Who’s Who
of Cooking in America”. McCarty currently operates the
New York and Santa Monica Michael’s, and wrote Michael’s
Cookbook: The Art of New American Food and Contemporary Entertaining
from the Creator of Michael’s Restaurant. |
Awards Wine Coordinator
Andrea
Immer
Master Sommelier & Dean of Wine Studies
French Culinary
Institute
NYC
One of only ten women in the world to hold the title of Master
Sommelier, Andrea Immer has made it her life’s work to
demystify wine for the masses. She wrote Great Tastes Made
Simple: Extraordinary Food and Wine Pairing for Every Palate,
Andrea Immer’s Wine Buying Guide for Everyone,
and Beard Award nominee Great Wine Made Simple: Straight
Talk from a Master Sommelier. Immer was the first Corporate
Director of Beverage Programs for Starwood Hotels & Resorts,
is a wine and spirits contributor for several Food Network shows,
and won the Sommelier Society of America’s ‘Best
Sommelier in the United States’ title in 1997. The first
woman Cellarmaster at Windows on the World, Immer now serves
on the committee for the Windows of Hope Fund. She won the 2002
James Beard/Hudson Valley Foie Gras Outstanding Wine & Spirits
Professional Award, and was recently named FCI’s Dean
of Wine Studies. |
Christian "Hitsch"
Albin
The Four Seasons
NYC
“A luncheon I had at The Four Seasons last
Monday was perfect.” So wrote James Beard in a 1960 letter
that was quoted by former New York Times critic Ruth
Reichl in her three-star review of the stunning restaurant.
Reichl, too, experienced perfection before she “floated
out the door”—thanks in no small part to chef Christian
Albin. At 15, Albin started cooking at a ski resort in Chur,
Switzerland. Stints in some of Switzerland’s finest hotels
followed, but Albin had his sights set on America. At 23, he
bid adieu (or ufwiderlüge) to the Alpine air and
headed to Manhattan, where he helped open the Swiss Pavilion.
In 1971, Restaurant Associates tapped the young chef as a “troubleshooter,”
a position that acquainted him with The Four Seasons. He promptly
fell in love with the restaurant; he started as sous-chef there
in 1975, and has been executive chef since 1990. Per Hal Rubenstein
in New York magazine, Albin is enjoying a creative renaissance—“reawakening”
the menu with “subtle but surprisingly adventurous new
flavors.” |
Kirk Avondoglio*
Perona Farms
Andover, NJ
Presented by Hudson Valley Foie Gras
Emil and Angelina Avondoglio may have started Perona Farms in
1917, but it was their great-grandson, Kirk, who made the verdant
estate in western New Jersey famous. The original Perona Farms
was a place for dairy cows; today it’s a place where celebrities
and the well-to-do come to celebrate special occasions. As executive
chef, Avondoglio oversees an impressive catering and restaurant
operation. He’s also head of production of a smoked salmon
business that caught the tastebuds of the likes of Bryan Miller
(“One of the best I’ve tasted.”) and the late
Jean-Louis Palladin: (“I could not believe how perfect
it was.”) |
Alison Awerbuch
Abigail
Kirsch Culinary Productions
Tarrytown, NY
Abigail Kirsch Culinary Productions is one of Manhattan’s
premier caterers, equally adept at the flawless planning and
execution of menus for intimate weddings as for enormous corporate
shindigs. At the heart of the operation is partner and Chief
Culinary Officer Alison Awerbuch. A CIA-trained chef, Awerbuch
oversees all food and beverage operations for both the on- and
off-premise sites that Abigail Kirsch serves. That’s a
tall order, considering the business produces more than 1,000
events per year, to the tune of over $35 million dollars. Ann
Cooper featured Awerbuch in her book A Woman’s Place
is in the Kitchen, though the very busy Awerbuch manages
an active life outside of it as well. She’s the vice president
of Les Dames d’Escoffier New York, is active in several
charities, and still manages to find time for food styling and
teaching—all while mounting once-in-a-lifetime events
on a daily basis. |
Christine Banta
Michael's
Santa Monica
Michael’s chef de cuisine Christine Banta was born in
Japan to a Japanese mother and an Irish-American father—whose
military position kept the family moving. By the time she was
sixteen, Banta had lived all over the American South, and in
fishing and farming villages in Japan. Banta studied Radio,
Television, and Film in college, but ultimately decided to follow
in the footsteps of her mother and aunt, who were restaurateurs
in Japan. She attended the professional cooking program at UCLA,
and landed an externship at the Wolfgang Puck Café in
Hollywood. Before she’d completed her courses she’d
already been offered a job as pastry chef. Soon she was working
as saucier at Granita in Malibu, another one of Puck’s
restaurants. In 2000, Banta accepted a position as sous-chef
at Michael’s in Santa Monica. A year and a half later,
she’d advanced to her current position. |
John Bennett and Chip Sears
The Chef's Kitchen
Oklahoma City
John Bennett was executive chef at the very first James Beard
Awards Reception in 1991, when the affair small enough to fit
on the World Yacht. A longtime friend of James Beard, Bennett
is back for this year’s birthday celebration with his
nephew and protégé Chip Sears. Bennett graduated
from the CIA, studied with Dione Lucas, was close to Beard and
Joe Baum, and counts Julia Child among his friends. For forty
years he’s cooked, consulted, and mentored in some of
Oklahoma’s best kitchens, including the Grand Boulevard
Restaurant, Christopher’s, The Greystone, and Newton’s
Steakhouse & Grille; he also runs John Bennett Catering.
Chef Sears studied under Lloyd Cook and apprenticed under Bennett
before earning the chef de cuisine post at The Metro Wine Bar
and Bistro. He worked with his uncle again as executive chef
at Nonna’s at the Painted Door, where Bennett was consulting
chef. Now Bennett caters and teaches at The Chef's Kitchen,
his nephew’s culinary enterprise. |
Ben Berryhill
Cafe
Annie
Houston
Cafe Annie executive chef Ben Berryhill attributes his appreciation
for impeccably fresh ingredients to childhood summers spent
on a farm in East Texas. And as a grownup, Berryhill couldn’t
keep his mind off the kitchen, either, so he cooked his way
through Texas, Hawaii, and Colorado. He headed to New York for
a spot at the CIA, and completed his externship at Gautreau’s
Restaurant in New Orleans. In 1992, Berryhill returned to the
Lone Star State, where he landed a job—and the mentorship
of Robert Del Grande—at Cafe Annie. Berryhill worked his
way up the line, and became executive chef in 1999. The next
year, Cafe Annie was named one of America’s best restaurants
by Gourmet, and in 2001 it was nominated for The James
Beard Foundation/Sub-Zero Award for Outstanding Wine Selection.
|
Daniel Boulud
Feasts
& Fêtes
NYC
Two-time Beard Award winner Daniel Boulud trained under such
stellar and starred chefs as Roger Vergé, Georges Blanc
and Michel Guérard. He wowed Copenhagen at Les Etoiles,
then moved to New York, thereby elevating the city’s status
in the culinary universe. Boulud opened Daniel in 1993, following
executive chef posts at Le Régence and Le Cirque. Within
a year, the International Herald Tribune named the restaurant
one of the 10 Best in the World. In 1998, he opened Café
Boulud, and relocated Daniel. Boulud has since been named “Chef
of the Year” by Bon Appétit, and Daniel
has received a Gourmet “Top Table” Award,
four-stars from the New York Times, AAA five-diamond
and Mobil five-star ratings. Riding on his success, Boulud opened
db bistro moderne in 2001; a second Café Boulud is set
to open in Palm Beach. Boulud co-owns Feasts & Fêtes,
Daniel’s catering division. His latest book, Letters
to a Young Chef, with Peter Kaminsky, is set for release
this fall. |
Gala Coordinating Chef
Robert
Cacciola
M. Young Communications / The James
Beard Foundation
NYC
Robert Cacciola, special-events director at M. Young Communications
and producer of the Bon Appétit Wine and Spirits
Focus, is once again gamely taking on responsibility for the
care and coordinating of our merry band of Gala chefs. A Beard
House kitchen volunteer co-coordinator and co-recipient of the
Perry Award for Outstanding Volunteer Contribution to The James
Beard Foundation, Cacciola has also served as executive chef
at Dean & DeLuca and at Susan Holland & Co. In 1994,
he launched the Beard Buffet Luncheons at the Beard House, a
celebration of James Beard’s recipes, and since 1991,
he’s coordinated every last crumb served up at the Beard
Awards. He is also a producer of the Bon Appétit
Wine & Spirits Focus. |
Pascal Condomine *
D'Artagnan Rôtisserie
NYC
Pascal Condomine was born in France, apprenticed at the Michelin
two-star Hôtel de France, and served in the French military
(in Paris, as a chef). He returned briefly to the Hotel de France
to work under Master Chef Andre Daguin, but truly distinguished
himself as, well, a French chef in the U.S. He worked at the
New York Times three-star Park Bistro, was chef de cuisine
at Gascogne, then served as sous chef at Payard Pâtisserie
and Bistro. He then moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he was chef
de cuisine at Aubergine, a private supper club. He took a hiatus
from his homeland’s cuisine to serve as executive chef
at Columbus’ Martini Italian then returned to another
Daguin kitchen—this one in New York—as executive
chef of D’Artagnan Rôtisserie. “The food,”
wrote William Grimes, “is authentic, robust, earthy and
powerfully flavored.” Or as Gael Greene put it, “irresistibly
French.” |
Robert Del Grande
Cafe Annie
Houston
Robert Del Grande earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry, but while
visiting his fiancée Mimi, he started experimenting in
a different sort of lab—the kitchen at Cafe Annie, a restaurant
in Houston that was owned by Mimi’s sister and brother-in-law,
Candice and Lonnie Schiller. Del Grande stayed on to become
executive chef. “After 20 years, [his] southwestern cuisine
is still flourishing,” according to Gourmet. “Cafe
Annie keeps on redefining the way Texas food tastes.”
Together with his wife and the Schillers, Del Grande opened
Rio Ranch, Taco Milagro, and the wildly successful Café
Express chain. He produces In the Kitchen with Robert Del
Grande, which airs locally, and has appeared on PBS cooking
shows. Del Grande has the secret to culinary success down to
a science: he’s won nearly every award in the business,
including numerous nods from Gourmet and Food &
Wine, a listing in Who’s Who of Food & Beverage
in America, and a 1992 James Beard/American Express Best Chef:
Southwest award. |
 
Andrew Faulkner and Chris Faulkner
Melissa's
Los Angeles
The brother chef team responsible for the culinary creations
of Melissa¹s bring a world of kitchen experience to the
table. Andrew Faulkner, who heads up the Las Vegas Food Service
Team, is a graduate of the Western Culinary institute in Portland,
Oregon. He completed an internship at The Ritz-Carlton Laguna
Niguel and then moved to The Four Seasons Hotel and Pelican
Hill Country Club in Newport Beach, California. Chris Faulkner
is corporate chef for Melissa¹s in Los Angeles. A graduate
of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Chris also
worked for the Four Seasons in Newport Beach property and at
Pelican Hill Country Club. Before joining Melissa¹s, he
was at the sous-chef for the Disneyland resort in Anaheim. |
Dean Fearing
The
Mansion on Turtle Creek
Dallas
Dean Fearing is, literally and figuratively, a Dean of American
southwestern cuisine. He trained at the CIA, then worked at
Cincinnati’s Maisonette and the five-star Dallas Fairmont’s
Pyramid Room. When The Mansion on Turtle Creek opened in 1980,
Fearing signed on as sous-chef. He left to join Tom Agnew as
part owner of Agnew’s in Dallas, where he made a name
for himself. In the meantime, the Mansion was becoming one of
the country’s top hotels. When Agnew’s closed, Fearing
did a stint at the Veranda Club at the Anatole Hotel in Dallas,
then returned to the Mansion as executive chef. Under Fearing’s
watch, the Mansion was nominated for three James Beard Foundation
awards. Fearing himself won the Foundation’s 1994 award
for Best Chef: Southwest. Dean is also the author of The
Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook and Dean Fearing’s
Southwest Cuisine: Blending Asia and the Americas. |
Michael Foley
Printer's
Row
Chicago
One of twelve children, Michael Foley grew up in a restaurant
family, and though his parents advised their kids to avoid the
business, Foley couldn’t resist it. While in college,
he’d tried his hand at everything from medicine, to government
history, to golf, but ultimately earned his master’s degree
from the Cornell School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration.
He worked for Jean Trboyevic at Le Perroquet in Chicago, then
did stints at Gordon, Harry’s Cafe, and Huckleberry’s.
Determined to open his own restaurant, and despondent over lack
of prospects, he wandered into a Greek coffee shop, fell in
love with the space, and ultimately bought it—today it’s
the home to Printer’s Row, the restaurant that earned
Foley a spot on Cook’s “Who’s Who”
as one of the nation’s top fifty chefs. A pioneer in developing
Chicago’s regional cuisine, Foley went on to open First
Street and Grand Ohio. |
Michael Formichella and M.J. Brando*
The Smithfield Innovation Group
Buffalo Grove, IL
Michael Formichella and M.J. Brando have quite a lot in common,
besides their first name. Both Michaels graduated from the CIA.
Formichella worked throughout the South Pacific and Europe,
while Brando trained on the latter continent for four years.
Both have achieved Master Chef status, and have won gold and
silver medals in international culinary competitions. Brando
is a member of Les Amis d’Escoffier, Formichella, a past
president. They have sixty collective years of experience in
the culinary world, including work as executive chef and director
of operations for a London-based international restaurant group
(Formichella), and as a corporate executive chef and vice president
of a major international hotel chain (Brando). Additionally,
Brando has spent the past ten years in product development for
both the foodservice and retail marketplace. |
Trey Foshee
George's
on the Cove
La Jolla, CA
Bon Appétit called George’s
on the Cove “that rarity, a seaside resort that also serves
superb food.” Enter executive chef Trey Foshee, whose
seasonal regional American cuisine is as stunning as the restaurant’s
Pacific views. A graduate of the CIA, Foshee has worked in several
notable kitchens, including L’Orangerie, La Folie, Röckenwagner,
Sheraton Grande’s 333 Restaurant, and Hawaii’s Five-Diamond
Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalow’s Bay Terrace. Before
joining George’s on the Cove in 1999, Foshee was executive
chef at Sundance Resort Tree Room & Foundry Grill in Utah.
Foshee, the recipient of GQ’s Golden Dish Award,
was named one of America’s Ten Best New Chefs in 1998
by Food & Wine. |
 
Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier
Arrows
Ogunquit, ME
Mark Gaier left a career in publishing to follow a lifetime
love of cooking, training in Boston with Jean Wallach and at
the Whistling Oyster with Michael Allen, a protégé
of Madeleine Kamman. Clark Frasier discovered his culinary jones
while studying Chinese in Beijing; he moved to San Francisco
to start an import-export business, but found himself in the
kitchen instead. And both Gaier and Frasier made their way to
Jeremiah Tower’s cutting-edge kitchens at Stars in San
Francisco. In 1988, they bought an 18th-century farmhouse in
Maine and launched Arrows, a beautiful little love poem to regional
cookery. Zagat lauded their “outstanding inventive
cuisine,” while USA Today declared, “Arrows
offers superb local ingredients, precisely executed and full
of surprise.” In the years since Arrows opened, Wine
Spectator has given Frasier and Gaier 12 consecutive Awards
of Excellence, commenting, “Arrows never misses the bull’s
eye,” and the Quarterly Review of Wine has called
it “one of the finest restaurants on the East Coast.” |
Michael Ginor*
Hudson
Valley Foie Gras
Ferndale NY
Michael Ginor found his culinary calling while he was living
in Israel. In the midst of a meal of foie gras, he had an epiphany:
America, he realized, had no access to the sort of delicious
home-grown livers that he feasted on in the Middle East. Ginor
threw his considerable energies into kick-starting the fledgling
U.S. industry. These days, Hudson Valley Foie Gras is the largest
foie gras producer in the country, and Americans are in love
with its lobes. And Ginor, a Beard House Angel, talented chef,
and a member of our Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in
America, has cooked across the country, bringing his foie gras
vision to the nation. |
Suzanne Goin
Lucques
West Hollywood, CA
Talk about making the most of your college years—as a
student at Brown University, Suzanne Goin worked at Providence’s
Al Forno, London’s Le Mazarin, and L.A.’s L’Orangerie.
After graduation, Goin landed a job under Alice Waters at Chez
Panisse; two years later she headed to France where she worked
at Pain Adour et Fantaisie, Arpège, and Pâtisserie
Christian Pottier. After returning to the United States, Goin
held positions as sous-chef at Olives, head chef at Alloro,
and graduated from sous-chef to executive chef at Campanile.
In 1998, she opened Lucques; in 1999, the restaurant made Condé
Nast Traveler’s 50 Hot Tables list, while Food
& Wine featured Goin as one of the year’s Best
New Chefs. Gourmet and Bon Appétit swooned
over Lucques in 2000, the same year it ranked No. 8 in The Saveur
100,” thanks to food that “announces its presence
at the table with its deep, rich perfume…one small taste
stops conversation in its tracks.” |
Greg Higgins
Higgins
Portland, OR
Greg Higgins worked in the vegetable fields and fruit orchards
in Eden, New York, as a child, and apprenticed under an artisanal
cheese-maker as a teenager—experiences that solidified
his commitment to the land and that shape his cuisine today.
Higgins trained in Alsace and Burgundy, worked in several U.S.
kitchens, and spent nearly a decade as executive chef at Portland’s
Heathman Hotel. In 1994, Higgins opened his eponymous restaurant
with partner Paul Mallory. Suzanne Hamlin of The New York
Times wrote the “menu possibilities are dazzling”—a
factor that likely helped land the restaurant three America’s
Top Tables Awards from Gourmet. Higgins received Cooking
Light’s 1998 America’s Shining Star Award, and
in 2002 was named the James Beard Foundation/American Express
Best Chef: Northwest/Hawaii. Higgins contributed to Janie Hibler’s
Wild about Game, and wrote the Oregon section of Kathy
Casey’s Northwest Beautiful Cookbook. He is an
avid organic gardener, and a board member of Chefs Collaborative
2000. |
Paul Kahan
Blackbird
Chicago
Paul Kahan has enjoyed a swift and steady rise to culinary heights
since he opened Blackbird with Donnie Madia in 1997. The
New York Times credited Kahan with helping to elevate the
profile of Chicago’s independent chef-driven restaurants,
and Food & Wine featured him on 1999’s Best
New Chefs list. The son of a deli and smokehouse owner, Kahan
worked briefly in computer science before taking a job at Erwin
Dreschler’s Metropolis. He credits Dreschler and Rick
Bayless, for whom he worked at Topolobampo, with teaching him
the importance of cultivating relationships with local farmers.
At Blackbird, Kahan’s emphasis on local, seasonal ingredients
drives his constantly changing menu, and helped land the restaurant
on Gourmet’s list of Chicago’s top five restaurants
in 2000, and the country’s 50 best restaurants in 2001.
In 2002, Kahan was nominated for James Beard Foundation Best
Chef: Midwest award. A two-time nominee for Best Graphic Design,
Blackbird won a Beard Award for Best Restaurant Design in 2002.
|
Nick Malgieri
Institute
of Culinary Education
NYC
A baker, cookbook author, and educator of extraordinary caliber,
Nick Malgieri is a graduate of the CIA and former executive
pastry chef at Windows on the World. He is the author of a fistful
of award-winning cookbooks, including the 1995 How to Bake
(HarperCollins) and the 1998 Chocolate (HarperCollins).
In 1996, Malgieri was inducted into Who’s Who of Food
and Beverage in America, and both Chocolatier and Pastry
Art and Design named Malgieri one of America’s ten
best pasty chefs. Countless students have honed their pastry
skills under Malgieri’s direction. He has had pivotal
roles in the baking programs at the New School and the New York
Restaurant School, and now runs the Institute for Culinary Education’s
baking program. Malgieri’s monthly column, "Ask the
Baker," is syndicated throughout the United States by the
Los Angeles Times. |
Mark Militello
Mark's
Place
Florida
Credited with putting South Florida on the culinary map, Mark
Militello presides over four eponymous Sunshine State restaurants.
Militello, who was born in Texas and raised in New York, opened
Mark’s Place in North Miami Beach in 1988. Two years later,
Food & Wine voted Militello one of the “Ten
Best Chefs in America.” In 1992, he won the James Beard
Foundation/American Express Best Chef: Southeast Award. He’s
also garnered a Distinguished Restaurant Award from Condé
Nast Traveler, and two Golden Dish Awards from GQ.
DiRoNA signaled out Mark’s as one of the nation’s
top restaurants; Gourmet’s staff concurred and
included the South Beach outpost on its list of America’s
Best Restaurants. The New York Times recently featured
Militello in its eight-part “The Chef” column. |
Bradley Ogden
Bradley
Ogden
Las Vegas
When he graduated from the CIA in 1977, Bradley Ogden was picked
as the student most likely to succeed. And how! During his tenure
as chef at the American Restaurant in Kansas City, Ogden was
highly influenced by Joe Baum and Barbara Kafka’s mentorship.
In 1983, he left to become executive chef at the new Campton
Place Hotel in San Francisco, where he made a name for himself
as a pioneer of American cuisine. Six years later, he opened
The Lark Creek Inn. Now, Ogden and Michael Dellar co-own the
eight restaurants that comprise the Lark Creek Restaurant Group:
two Yankee Piers, Arterra Restaurant, Parcel 104, One Market
Restaurant, and, of course, the critically acclaimed Lark Creek
Inn and its two offshoots. Ogden is a Who’s Who of Food
and Beverage in America inductee, a Great American Chef (per
the International Wine and Food Society) and a 1993 Beard Foundation/American
Express: Best Chef: California. His first cookbook, Bradley
Ogden’s Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (Random House),
is an award-winner, too. Ogden came full circle at the CIA in
2000: while speaking at his son’s graduation, he was honored
with the Chef of the Year Award. He recently opened the eponymous
Bradley Ogden in Las Vegas. |
Jacques Pépin
French
Culinary Institute
NYC
Jacques Pépin’s culinary pedigree is far too long
to do it justice in a single paragraph (for more details, see
his new memoir, The Apprentice (Houghton Mifflin)). Early
on, he served as personal chef to Charles de Gaulle. Later,
his varied career in the United States included jobs at New
York City’s historic Le Pavillon and in Howard Johnson’s
Research and Development department. Pépin is perhaps
best known for his many award-winning cookbooks and television
series, which have made French cuisine approachable to generations
of home cooks. Five of his 22 cookbooks and several of his television
series have won James Beard Foundation Awards. In 1996, Pépin
was inducted into our Cookbook Hall of Fame for his body of
work. The French government, too, has bestowed Pépin
with two of its highest honors, the Chevalier de l’Ordre
des Arts et des Lettres, and the Chevalier de l’Ordre
du Mérite Agricole. A founder of The American Institute
of Wine and Food, Pépin also serves as a trustee emeritus
for the James Beard Foundation. These days, as The French Culinary
Institute’s dean of Special Programs, Pépin trains
aspiring chefs. |
Jeannie Pierola
Bern's
Steak House
SideBern's
Tampa, FL
Steakhouses may seem the quintessential male domain, but the
executive chef at Bern’s Steak House is all woman. After
managing three successful restaurants of her own, in 1998 Jeannie
Pierola signed back on to carry on the legacy of Bern Laxer,
who founded the idiosyncratic Bern’s in 1956. (Pierola
had worked there in 1992.) As exacting as Bern himself, who
died in 2002, Pierola devoted four years to recipe testing,
reorganizing kitchen stations, and retraining the staff. In
the spirit of a restaurant that is celebrated for its extensive
wine list and steak menu, she added more than 90 items to the
menu—the first changes in 30 years. Lest she tire of steak,
Pierola has another creative outlet in SideBern’s, where
she offers dim sum and a constantly changing international menu.
Pierola, who is a partner in the venture, been featured in Chef,
Food & Wine, Restaurant Hospitality, Southern
Living, and Bon Appétit, and has appeared
on CBS’s This Morning, and FoodNation with Bobby
Flay. |
Nitzi Rabin
Chillingsworth
Brewster, MA
Nitzi Rabin once worked summers at Chillingsworth, the quaint
Cape Cod built in 1689 that is home to one of Massachusetts
most venerable restaurants. He advanced from busboy to manager
while pursuing his MBA at Dartmouth College, then in 1975 he
and his wife Pat, who also worked summers at the restaurant,
bought the place. Together, they’ve turned the house where
James Beard once cooked into a DiRoNA-winning destination. During
the off-season, the Rabins travel to France and California for
research and inspiration, then wow guests at their restaurant
and on-site bed-and-breakfast with their ever-vital American/New
French cuisine. With good reason, The New York Times
reported, “Chillingsworth is regarded as the best restaurant
on Cape Cod.” Zagat reviewers went further—for
two years running, Chillingsworth outranked all 500 Boston restaurants
in the Survey. |
Charles Ramseyer
Ray's Boathouse
Seattle
“Visiting Seattle without dining at Ray’s
would be like visiting Paris and missing the Eiffel Tower,”
Bryan Miller once wrote in The New York Times. Yes, the
restaurant is a classic—in fact, it won a James Beard
Foundation/Coca-Cola Fountain America’s Regional Classics
Award just last year. But in the grand old tradition of American
melting pot, while it’s an American classic, its chef
is Swiss. As a teenager, Charles Ramseyer apprenticed at Zurich’s
exclusive Hotel Vorderen Sternen. At age 20, he began traveling
the world in order to explore the cuisines of other countries.
In 1980, Ramseyer moved to Vancouver, B.C., where he worked
for the Hilton and the Four Seasons, and then moved to Seattle
to work in the four-star Alexis Hotel. Ramseyer signed on as
executive chef at Ray’s Boathouse in 1993. |
Olivier Rousselle
Michael's Santa Monica
Some may feel they can never have too much of Paris, but not
Olivier Rousselle, who grew up, graduated from cooking school,
and took his first job at a busy seafood bistro in the City
of Lights. Bit hard by the travel bug while catering to the
bistro’s international clientele, Rousselle left for England
a year later. He worked under Keith Podmore at Boodle’s,
a prestigious gentlemen’s club in London, and had the
opportunity to cook for various British Royals. But his wanderlust
persisted, so he packed his bags and headed to South Africa’s
wine country, where he found a job at La Couronne Hotel and
Winery under chef Peter Goffe-Wood. In 1999, Condé
Nast Traveler ranked the restaurant one of “the 50
most exciting restaurants in the world.” Rousselle returned
to London, then decided to try his hand at California cuisine.
He moved to Santa Monica in 1999, and has been at Michael’s
ever since. |
Alain Sailhac
French
Culinary Institute
NYC
As executive vice president and senior dean of The French Culinary
Institute (FCI), Alain Sailhac has a myriad of responsibilities,
but shored up by nearly 52 years in the business, he takes it
all in stride. Born in Millau, France, Sailhac got his culinary
start at age 14 in his hometown, but he was soon a seasoned
culinary traveler. He worked in Paris, Corfu, Rhodes, and Guadeloupe,
then became sous-chef at the Michelin two-star Château
de Larraldia. In 1965, Sailhac was hired as chef de cuisine
at Le Mistral and Le Manoir in New York City. Several Paris
hotel and restaurant positions followed, as did executive chef
jobs at l’Hôtel Royal in New Caledonia (a French
island in the South Pacific), and Chicago’s Le Perroquet.
In 1974, Sailhac returned to New York as chef de cuisine at
Le Cygne. From 1978 to 1986, he was executive chef at the city’s
fabled Le Cirque. Before joining FCI, Sailhac was executive
chef at the “21” Club, culinary director at the
Plaza Hotel, and a consultant to the Regency Hotel. |
Jimmy Schmidt
The
Rattlesnake Club
Detroit, MI
While earning an electrical engineering degree, Jimmy Schmidt
went to France to learn the language, then stayed on in Avignon
to pursue his interest in the culinary arts and wine. He studied
under Madeleine Kamman and cooked at Chez La Mère Madeleine
in Massachusetts, then moved to Detroit for the executive chef
spot at the London Chop House. In 1985, he opened his first
Rattlesnake Club in Denver. Detroit and Palm Springs locations
followed—as did an Ivy Award, several Gourmet “Top
Table” mentions, and ten consecutive DiRoNA Awards. In
1993, Schmidt won The James Beard Foundation/American Express
Best Chef: Midwest Award. When he’s not tending the stoves,
Schmidt serves as CEO of Functional Foods Company, which produces
his SmartChocolate bars. A founding chef of Share Our Strength,
Schmidt wrote Cooking for All Seasons, Jimmy Schmidt’s
Cooking Class, co-authored Heart Healthy Cooking for
All Seasons, and somehow found time to help the USDA to
improve National School Lunch Program. |
Richard Simpson
Institute
of Culinary Education
NYC
A one-time philosophy major, Richard Simpson spent five years
toiling as a paralegal and librarian for some of New York’s
largest law firms. When he decided a culinary career sounded
more palatable than the law, he signed on as a work-study student
at what was then Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School.
After graduation, Simpson worked at Union Square Café,
did stints in several other restaurants, and was hired as executive
chef of the Soho Wine Bar’s catering division. Simpson
left a year later to open his own catering company, Les Trois
Etoiles. Shortly thereafter, he was invited to join the faculty
at what is now The Institute of Culinary Education. He taught
at the school for over a decade, eventually as senior baking
instructor. Simpson was promoted to Director of Education in
1997, and has served in that capacity ever since. |
André Soltner
French
Culinary Institute
NYC
If his students at the French Culinary Institute are lucky,
some of master chef André Soltner’s formidable
talent will rub off on them. The Alsace native took New York
by storm when he opened Lutèce in 1961. Even more impressive
than his clientele—over the years, guests included the
Kennedys, Richard Nixon, Katherine Hepburn, John Lennon, and
Roy Lichtenstein—has been the restaurant’s staying
power. Soltner was chef/owner of Lutèce for 34 years;
in an unbroken run from 1971 to 1994, the restaurant held five
Mobil stars and four stars from The New York Times. Soltner
co-authored The Lutèce Cookbook (Knopf) with Seymour
Britchky, and contributed to The French Culinary Institute’s
Salute to Healthy Cooking (Rodale). On the list of Who’s
Who of Food & Beverage in America, Soltner won the James
Beard Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.
French governmental honors include the Chevalier de la Légion
d’Honneur and Lauréat du Concours du Meilleur Ouvrier
de France. |
Mark Sullivan*
The
Village Pub
Woodside, CA
Some years ago, Mark Sullivan’s parents refused their
seven-year-old’s request to turn their living room into
a prix-fixe restaurant. But his interest in being a chef was
not to be deterred—at 16, he got his first kitchen job.
Sullivan continued cooking while he earned a philosophy degree,
then thought things through and decided his heart was in the
kitchen. He joined the staff at Sol Y Luna in San Francisco,
working for free on his days off to hone his skills—and
rose from prep cook to head line cook in eight months. An interest
in Mediterranean cooking led Sullivan to Europe, where he worked
throughout France and Spain to better explore the cuisine. He
returned to San Francisco and was hired at Slow Club before
being tapped to open owner Jim Moffat’s 42 Degrees. Sullivan
served as chef de cuisine at PlumpJack Squaw Valley, then signed
on as executive chef at The Village Pub. |
Allen Susser
Chef
Allen's
Aventura, FL
With a degree from the Cordon Bleu in hand and experience at
The Bristol Hotel in Paris and Le Cirque in New York, Allen
Susser set out on his own with Chef Allen’s in 1986. He
took his cues from South Florida’s bounty of citrus, tropical
fruits, and fish, and his inspiration from the local Caribbean
and Latin American cultures. Gourmet gave Chef Allen’s
a Top Table in South Florida mention, The New York Times
dubbed him the “Ponce De Leon of New Florida cooking,”
and Susser’s so-called Palm Tree Cuisine won him the 1994
James Beard Foundation/American Express Best Chef: Southeast
award. The author of New World Cuisine and Cookery, The
Great Citrus Book, and The Great Mango Book, Susser
has an Honorary Doctorate of Culinary Arts from Johnson &
Wales. |
Jacques Torres
French
Culinary Institute
NYC
Jacques Torres designed the French Culinary Institute’s
Classic Pastry Arts curriculum and serves as the school’s
Dean of Pastry Arts. After training and working in France, Torres
joined The Ritz-Carlton as corporate pastry chef in 1988. A
year later Sirio Maccioni recruited him to serve as executive
pastry chef at Le Cirque. Torres recently launched Jacques Torres
Chocolate, a wholesale outfit in Brooklyn, and the perfect complement
to his latest Food Network television series, Chocolate with
Jacques Torres. Previously, Torres hosted the PBS series
Dessert Circus and wrote Jacques Torres’ Dessert
Circus: Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make at Home and
Jacques Torres’ Dessert Circus at Home. He even
ensured that the sweet stuff made the pages of The French
Culinary Institute’s Salute to Healthy Cooking. Winner
of the Chartreuse Pastry Chef Award, Torres has been named Pastry
Chef of the year by both Chefs of America and The James Beard
Foundation. |
Jerry Traunfeld
The
Herbfarm
Woodinville, WA
Describing her evening at The Herbfarm, Seattle Times
critic Nancy Leson wrote that the “unparalleled dining
event...stars an incomparable chef/genius.” She was speaking,
of course, of executive chef Jerry Traunfeld, who crafts the
five-hour, nine-course meals (complete with garden tour and
lecture on the evening’s featured ingredients) served
four nights each week at the restaurant. Traunfeld is an expert
on herbs and an avid gardener, assets he puts to use when conjuring
dishes like soufflé of stinging nettle and lovage with
carrot sauce and artichoke chips. Traunfeld wrote the IACP-winning
The Herbfarm Cookbook: 200 Herb-Inspired Recipes Plus a Complete
Guide to Growing, Handling and Cooking with Fresh Herbs.
He is also the recipient of the 2000 James Beard/American Express
Best Chef: Northwest/Hawaii Award, and he was instrumental in
earning The Herbfarm its AAA Five-Diamond and Mobil Four-Star
status. |
Kelly Watson
Michael's
New York
Kelly Watson graduated from Adelphi University with a Bachelor
of Arts degree in psychology and religion, then funneled her
knowledge of the human psyche into an advertising career. She
worked on accounts that included Skippy Peanut Butter, Mazola
Corn Oil, and Karo Corn Syrup—brands which must have had
their own subliminal effect on Watson, for in 1995 she decided
to take a leave of absence from her job to pursue her childhood
passion for pastry. She headed to culinary school and received
her degree in pastry arts in 1996. Watson worked under Chef
Bill Telepan at the Ansonia Restaurant. In 1998 she moved to
Telepan’s Judson Grill, where she was Assistant Pastry
Chef to Ann-Michele Andrews. Watson has been Pastry Chef at
Michael’s New York since 2000. |
Jonathan Waxman
Washington
Park
NYC
Jonathan Waxman made a name for himself as a pioneering New
American chef when he opened Jams in 1984, a restaurant New
York Times writer Florence Fabricant called a “culinary
comet.” Riding on that success, Waxman opened Bud’s,
which became an Upper West Side icon, then Jams of London, Hulot’s,
and the Napa Valley’s Table 29. Waxman trained at San
Francisco’s Tante Marie cooking school and at La Varenne
in Paris. He cooked at Domaine Chandon in Napa Valley under
Phillipe Jeanty and consulting chefs Paul Bocuse and Roger Vergé;
worked for Alice Waters; then was executive chef at Michael’s
in Santa Monica, California, before venturing out on his own.
In 1993, he traded his long hours in the kitchen for consulting,
and in that capacity, he was instrumental in the design and
success of Manhattan’s Columbus Bakery and Bryant Park
Grill. At Washington Park, Waxman has returned to the kitchen,
where his innovative, Greenmarket-driven American cuisine is
attracting crowds. Waxman is a contributing editor to Saveur,
and was named one the most influential Americans by Esquire
magazine for his contribution to the culinary field. |
Jasper White
Summer
Shack
Cambridge, MA
For a sensational 12-year run, Jasper White “gave pride
of place to traditional New England cooking” at the award-winning
Jasper’s, Caroline Bates wrote in Gourmet. White,
who’d established himself working alongside Lydia Shire
in some of Boston’s best hotel kitchens, won the James
Beard/American Express Best Chef: Northeast award in 1991, and
was nominated in 1994 for an Outstanding Chef award. He penned
Jasper White’s Cooking from New England, Lobster
at Home, and Fifty Chowders, then shook up the New
England food scene when he opened the expectation-defying Summer
Shack (rather than another haute spot à la Jasper’s).
White wanted a big, boisterous family restaurant, so the “larger-than-life
all-American Culinary Icon,” as Saveur described
him, designed and patented the Lobster Line—a 1,500-gallon
crustacean-filled seawater tank connected via an elaborate pulley
system to the 80-gallon steamers that can cook 125 lobsters
in 15 minutes. The effort scored Julia Child’s “all-time
favorite” Boston chef another Beard nomination—this
time for the Best New Restaurant in America award. |
* Indicates sponsor chefs
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