Biography
Born in 1950, Waxman grew up near Berkeley, California. [2] After graduating from the University of Nevada, Reno, he found work playing in bands at casinos and later with a rock band named "Lynx." [3]
Waxman eventually gave up his career as a trombonist to study at La Varenne cooking school in France. [4] [5] In 1979, he and restaurateur Michael McCarty opened Michael's Restaurant in an old mansion near the Santa Monica beach; the groundbreaking cuisine attracted diners from all over America. [6] Five years later, he opened Jams Restaurant on East 79th Street in New York; the chance to dine with what New York Magazine called "an elder statesman of the new California cooking" made Jams the most sought after dining sensation of the season. [7] His work at Jams made him a celebrity chef; "whoever said chefs in the 80's were like rock-and-roll stars", said one reviewer, "had Jonathan in mind." [8] Among other restaurants created by Waxman are Bud's, Hulot's, Jams of London and Table 29. [9] Esquire magazine put him on its list of most influential Americans. [10]
Waxman is currently the chef-owner of Barbuto in New York City's West Village, [11] Jams in New York City's Midtown, [12] Brezza Cucina in Atlanta's Ponce City Market, [13] Adele's in Nashville, [14] and in 2016 opened Waxman's at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. [15] According to New York Magazine, Barbuto's food is "rustic Italian," and the mood is "casually hip." [16] His cookbook published by Simon & Schuster was released in 2011. [17]
In 2018, Waxman served as a guest judge on season nine of MasterChef , and was introduced as the mentor of Aarón Sanchez. In 2021, he again appeared as a guest judge for the show on season eleven.
Waxman has also been an occasional judge on Guy's Grocery Games - including when Rocco DiSpirito has competed from time to time.
Harold Dieterle III is an American top chef, best known as the winner of the first season of the Bravo television network's reality television series Top Chef. After winning Top Chef, he owned and ran three restaurants in New York City: Perilla, Kin Shop, and The Marrow. He closed all three in 2014 and 2015. In 2019 Dieterle opened a new restaurant, "Ten Hope," in Williamsburg.
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Chris Cosentino is an American celebrity chef and reality television personality known as the winner of Top Chef Masters, a competitor on The Next Iron Chef and for his appearances on Iron Chef America. He is known for his haute cuisine offal dishes, and was chef-partner at Incanto in San Francisco. Forbes Traveler called Incanto "perhaps America's most adventurous nose-to-tail restaurant … On offer are lamb's necks, pig trotters and a five-course nose-to-tail tasting menu perhaps including venison kidneys and chocolate-blood panna cotta." Incanto closed on March 24, 2014. In December 2014, he opened Cockscomb, a restaurant centered around his updated interpretations of classic San Francisco dishes.
Aarón Sánchez is a Mexican-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author and philanthropist. He is the executive chef and part-owner of the Mexican restaurant Johnny Sánchez in New Orleans.
Richard Blais is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur, and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show Top Chef, and is known for his take on classic American cuisine. Blais was the runner-up for the fourth season of Top Chef and returned several seasons later to win Top Chef: All-Stars.
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Mark Peel was an American chef and restaurateur in California. Campanile, a restaurant owned by Peel and his former wife Nancy Silverton, won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2001. Peel specialized in California cuisine and was a pioneer of the farm-to-table concept.
Bryan Voltaggio is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and author. He is a Top Chef television series alum; and he was a semi-finalist for the James Beard award. His brother is celebrity chef Michael Voltaggio. He resides in Frederick, Maryland and is known for Mid-Atlantic cuisine.
Michael Voltaggio is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. He is a Top Chef television series alum and the winner of season 6. His brother Bryan Voltaggio is also a celebrity chef. He resides in Los Angeles, California.
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Thierry Rautureau, nicknamed The Chef in the Hat, was a French-American celebrity chef based in Seattle, Washington. He was also the chef and owner of several former restaurants, including Loulay and Luc, but entered "semi-retired" following his restaurants' difficulties with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Tanya Holland is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, podcast host, writer, and cookbook author. She is known as an expert of soul food. Holland is an alumna of Bravo TV's Top Chef, where she competed on the 15th season. She was the owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, California, which received national recognition and multiple Michelin Bib Gourmand awards.
Hugh Acheson is a Canadian-born chef and restaurateur. He has owned 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.
Gregory Gourdet is an American chef, writer, restaurateur, and former finalist on the twelfth and seventeenth seasons of Bravo's American reality television series, Top Chef. He is of Haitian descent. He is the owner of the restaurant Kann and the former executive chef and culinary director of Departure at The Nines in Portland, Oregon. His book, Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health, is a national bestseller.
Barbuto is an Italian restaurant owned by Jonathan Waxman located in the West Village of Manhattan, New York City, on Washington Street. The original location closed after 15 years when it lost its lease in 2019. They reopened in the autumn of 2021 at 113 Horatio Street. The new location actually opened in February 2020 but three weeks later they were forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Erick Williams is an American chef. In 2022 he was named Best Chef in the Great Lakes Region by the James Beard Foundation.
