Richard Blais

Last updated
Richard Blais
Richard Blais.jpg
Blais in 2011
Born
Uniondale, New York, US
Education The Culinary Institute of America
Culinary career
Current restaurant(s)
  • Four Flamingos (Orlando)
    Juniper & Ivy (San Diego)
    The Crack Shack (3 locations)
    California English (San Diego)
    Ember & Rye (Carlsbad)
Television show(s)
Website RichardBlais.net

Richard Blais is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur, and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show Top Chef , [1] 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 .

Contents

Early life

Blais was born in Uniondale, New York. [2] He was adopted by his stepfather in the second grade. [3] Blais' first cooking job was in a McDonald's on Long Island, where he learned the basics of working in a kitchen. [3]

Career

Blais worked at restaurants while in college; [4] he received the 2-year AOS in culinary arts from The Culinary Institute of America. [4] After graduation, he was invited to complete a fellowship in the fish kitchen. [4] He has studied under chefs Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, [2] Daniel Boulud, and Ferran Adrià. [4] He also trained at restaurants Chez Panisse and elBulli. [2]

Blais relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, in 2000 to run his own restaurant called Fishbone. [5] Initially, he was unimpressed with traditionally Southern ingredients but found ways to use them in his own style. [5] He has founded Trail Blais, a culinary company that seeks to perform consulting, design, and operational services in Atlanta eateries.

In July 2011, Blais signed a cookbook deal with Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House. On February 26, he released his debut cookbook, Try This at Home: Recipes From My Head to Your Plate, a cookbook for home cooks to reinvent classic dishes. [5] Try This at Home was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award 2014 in the category of Cookbook: General Cooking. Blais later opened Juniper & Ivy with Michael Rosen in San Diego, California, his first West Coast venture. He and Rosen most recently opened Crack Shack, a fine-casual fried chicken concept with multiple locations in Southern California and Las Vegas. [1]

On May 16, 2017, Blais released his second cookbook, So Good: 100 Recipes from My Kitchen to Yours, which features 100 elevated traditional recipes designed for the home cook. [6]

Also in 2017, Blais began hosting a weekly podcast about the culinary industry called Starving For Attention. [7]

In 2020, Blais and iHeartRadio launched the game-show-style podcast "Food Court with Richard Blais", which features guests including celebrity chefs, actors, writers, comedians, and other podcasters debating classic food arguments.

In 2023, Blais authored Plant Forward: 100 Bold Recipes for a Mostly Healthy Lifestyle, a plant-based diet cookbook in which dairy and meat are not abandoned entirely but the main focus is on plant dishes. [8]

In 2024, Blais has partnered with the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale, AZ. He will debut multiple new dining experiences as part of the Scottsdale resorts $110 million dollar renovation. [9]

Top Chef

Richard Blais Richard Blais.JPG
Richard Blais

Blais appeared as a contestant on the 4th season of Bravo's Top Chef . He was the runner up, losing to Stephanie Izard. [10] In 2010, he competed in Top Chef: All-Stars and won the competition, earning the title of "Top Chef" by defeating Mike Isabella in the season finale, which aired on March 30, 2011. He was a recurring judge in seasons 12 and 13 and on Season 18, Top Chef: Portland.

Other television appearances

Blais is a regular on the Food Network, with recurring appearances on Guy's Grocery Games as a judge, [2] and as a competitor, and has also hosted Food Network's Hungry Games, and Halloween Baking Championship . He competed in the second Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage tournament on November 4, 2015, winning his preliminary match and advancing to the finals; he had been a recurring judge on that series since season 12. He also has a recurring role as a judge in the Masterchef and Masterchef Junior franchises. In 2015, Blais was the host of HLN's "Cook Your Ass Off,", [2] a transformational culinary contest that focused on healthy cooking competition. In 2017 he became the host of "Man v. Master," [1] [2] a culinary competition on the FYI Network. Richard has also appeared on various talk shows, including The Today Show , Good Morning America , The Rachael Ray Show , The Chew , Live! with Kelly and Michael , and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon . Blais had a cameo role in the 2016 feature film, Why Him? , starring James Franco and Bryan Cranston. [1] In 2018, Blais appeared as a guest judge on Sugar Rush. [11] He was most recently a judge on Gordon Ramsay's Next Level Chef .

Restaurants

Blais is currently or has been involved with the following:

Other activities

In November 2011, Blais ran the ING New York City marathon for Alliance for a Healthier Generation. [20] It was his first marathon, and he completed it in 4:31:54. [21] He has since run four other New York City marathons. In November 2017, Blais ran the TCS New York City Marathon for Room to Read. [22]

Personal life

Blais is married, and he and his wife have two daughters, Riley and Embry. [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dekker, Nicholas (January 25, 2017). "Eat & Drink preview: Richard Blais of 'Top Chef'" . Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Blais 2017, p. 13.
  3. 1 2 Blais & Colicchio 2013, p. 10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Blais & Colicchio 2013, p. 12.
  5. 1 2 3 Blais & Colicchio 2013, p. 13.
  6. ↑ "So Good: 100 Recipes from My Kitchen to Yours". San Francisco Book Review. 2017-10-05. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  7. ↑ "Podcast One Adds 'Starving For Attention With Richard Blais'". All Access. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Plant Forward: 100 Bold Recipes for a Mostly Healthy Lifestyle". penguinrandomhouse.com. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Scottsdale.com (3 April 2024). "Chef Richard Blais and the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Partner to Debut New Restaurants" . Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  10. ↑ Bravotv.com. "Season 4 Bios: Richard Blais". Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  11. ↑ Sugar Rush - Season 1, Episode 4 , retrieved 2019-06-28
  12. ↑ "Inside Most Anticipated Juniper & Ivy, Plus a Menu Reveal". Eater.com. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Restaurant Juniper & Ivy Brings Glamorous Decor to an Industrial Space". Architectural Digest. 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  14. ↑ "Richard Blais Jumps into Chicken (and Egg) Game With Crack Shack". Eater San Diego. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  15. ↑ "FLIP Burger". Flip Burger Boutique. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  16. ↑ Kragen, Pam (November 19, 2020). "Chef Richard Blais to helm new restaurant at Park Hyatt Aviara". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  17. ↑ Kragen, Pam (January 20, 2021). "Ember & Rye restaurant in Carlsbad, the latest from chef Richard Blais, will embrace classic traditions". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  18. ↑ Fuller, Austin (23 November 2021). "TV chef Richard Blais' Four Flamingos restaurant opens at Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress on Dec. 3". orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  19. ↑ "Four Flamingos". Four Flamingos. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  20. ↑ Johnston, Lauren (29 September 2011). "2011 NYC marathon celebrity runners announced! And the runners are ..." NYDailyNews.com. Running Dialogue. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  21. ↑ Murphy, Jen (25 February 2013). "In Pursuit of Love, Chef Learns to Love Running". Dow Jones & Company, Inc. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  22. ↑ Hondorp, Gabrielle (2019-11-03). "Can You Run Faster Than These Celebs at the 2019 NYC Marathon?". Runner's World. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  23. ↑ "Blais, Richard | Culinary Institute of America".

Works cited

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