Rick Bayless Rick Bayless is the owner of Chicago restaurants Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, XOCO, and Tortas Frontera at O’Hare Airport as well as Frontera Fresco, his upscale, quick-service concept at Macy’s State Street, Old Orchard, and Union Square. More recently, Rick took on consulting chef responsibilities at the new Red O in L.A. Rick was awarded 1995 Chef of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, 1998 Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation, and 2002 Cooking Teacher of the Year by Bon Appétit. In 2007, Frontera Grill was named America’s Outstanding Restaurant of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. In 2009, Rick Bayless was crowned Top Chef Master on the Bravo network. Rick hosts Mexico: One Plate at a Time on public television, now in its eighth season, and just recently released his newest cookbook, Fiesta at Rick’s. Michelle Bernstein Since drawing the national spotlight in the mid 1990’s, Chef Michelle Bernstein has remained one of the region’s most well-respected and successful chefs/restaurateurs. A Miami native of Jewish and Latin descent, this passionate culinaire has dazzled diners and critics alike with her sublime cuisine and a personality as bright and vibrant as the Florida sun. “My food isn’t heavy handed or unnecessarily complicated,” says Bernstein, a James Beard Award winner (Best Chef South 2008) and author of Cuisine a Latina (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2008). “You don’t need heavy handed technique and over the top presentations to make a dish work. It’s about amazing ingredients, layered flavors and simplicity. My style of cooking is inspired by my own food memories and it’s the simple, soulful cooking that stays that I remember from my travels. I cook the food I love and I think that love translates to the diners.” These days, Bernstein is busier than ever. She recently opened Crumb on Parchment, a cozy café in the heart of the Miami Design District, and continues to operate her South Florida restaurant: Michy’s. Beyond a family of successful restaurants and her own family (she and husband/partner David Martinez recently became parents), Bernstein dedicates time to Common Threads, an after-school program for underprivileged kids, is actively promoting her new line of cookware and cutlery, “Michelle B,” and regularly appears on an array of national TV shows, from Top Chef to Good Morning America. Cat Cora Since making television history in 2005 as the first and only female Iron Chef on Food Network’s Iron Chef America, Cat Cora has become one of the largest names in the culinary community. In May 2012, Cora expanded her repertoire to host, as she steps out of her chef’s jacket into this new role alongside co-host Curtis Stone, in Bravo’s new reality series Around the World in 80 Plates, which follows 12 chefs competing in a culinary race across 10 countries in 44 days. Beyond her television credits, Cora is also a contributing food & lifestyle editor for O, the Oprah Magazine. To date, Cora has successfully launched several unique restaurant concepts. In 2008, she partnered with Macy’s to open Cat Cora’s Que (CCQ), a casual barbeque restaurant featuring her favorite takes on global BBQ. In 2009, Cora partnered with Disney to open Kouzinna by Cat Cora at Disney’s Board Walk Resort. Kouzzina’s menu consists of Cora’s time-honored Mediterranean family recipes and personal Greek favorites. In 2011, she opened Cat Cora’s Kitchen, a sophisticated dining option for airport travelers with locations in the Virgin Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Cora is the author of three top-selling cookbooks and in March 2011, the mother of four boys, released her first children’s book, Suitcase Surprise for Mommy (Dial Books, 2011) a sweet and comforting tool for kids and parents to use when Mom or Dad have to travel. In January 2011, the savvy chef launched her first line of versatile cookware with Starfrit, Canada’s leading purveyor of eco-friendly cookware and kitchen gadgets. The line features an array of practical, stylish and eco-friendly kitchen essentials to make mealtimes easy for the at- home cook. That same year, she teamed up with Gaea, the leader in Greek specialty food products, to debut Cat Cora’s Kitchen, her own line of olive oils, vinegar, cooking sauces, tapenades and olives. In addition, Cora has her own collection of wines under the Coranation label. Outside of the kitchen, Cora is an avid philanthropist and in 2004 she founded Chefs for Humanity in response to the tsunami disaster in Indonesia. Her charity is dedicated to preventing hunger, reducing obesity and providing help to those in emergency conditions. For more information please visit, www.catcora.com and follow Cat on Twitter (@catcora) and Facebook. Tom Douglas Chef/Owner/Restauranteur Tom Douglas, along with his wife and business partner, Jackie Cross, owns ten of Seattle’s most exciting restaurants: Dahlia Lounge, Etta’s, Palace Kitchen, Lola, Serious Pie (with two locations), Seatown Seabar and Rotisserie, Cuoco, Ting Momo, and Brave Horse Tavern. With almost 30 years in the biz, Tom helped put Seattle on the culinary map by cooking global cuisine using regional and seasonal ingredients. Tom also runs a retail bakery, Dahlia Bakery, a biscuit sandwich bar, Serious Biscuit, a catering business, Tom Douglas’ Catering and Events, and an event space, Palace Ballroom. All of Tom’s restaurants are located in the downtown Seattle and South Lake Union neighborhood. Tom is the author of three cookbooks, Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen (Morrow, 2001), Tom’s Big Dinners (Morrow, 2003), and I Love Crab Cakes (Morrow, 2006). The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook is due out in Fall 2012. In addition, Tom’s specialty food line, which includes Rub with Love spice rubs plus barbecue and teriyaki sauces, is sold nationwide. Tom lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife, Jackie. Todd English Todd English is a renowned chef, restaurateur, author, entrepreneur, and television star based in Boston, Massachusetts and New York City. In 1989, English opened his first restaurant Olives in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which quickly drew national and international applause for English’s interpretive rustic Mediterranean cuisine. In recent years, English has established Olives as one of the most prestigious names in the nation by opening locations in New York and Las Vegas. English is a four-time James Beard Award winner and inductee into the James Beard Foundation's "Who's Who in Food and Beverage in America." Todd has authored the critically acclaimed cookbooks, The Olives Table, The Figs Table and The Olives Dessert Table, and his highly anticipated fourth cookbook, Cooking in Everyday English was just released on October 11, 2012. English has also created the record-breaking houseware line, The Todd English Collection, and hosts the Emmy-nominated PBS travel series Food Trip with Todd English. Todd English Enterprises includes over twenty innovative restaurants spanning the country. Most recently, Todd opened the Todd English P.U.B. at Las Vegas’ CityCenter, and summer 2010 brought the opening of two new restaurants in New York City, his European-inspired Plaza Food Hall by Todd English at the iconic Plaza Hotel, as well as his French-inspired Brasserie Ça Va, located in the heart of the theater district. In December 2010 Todd opened his first dessert concept, Isabelle’s CurlyCakes with his daughter Isabelle in her hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Todd English is also very involved with several local and national charities in addition to UGive.org, including Citymeals-on-Wheels, Share Our Strength, Men with Heart, Men Against Breast Cancer, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Volunteers of America, Autism Speaks, and City Harvest. Marc Forgione Marc Forgione, winner of Season Three of The Next Iron Chef, is the chef/owner of Restaurant Marc Forgione in New York City. Recognized with a glowing two-star review from Sam Sifton of the New York Times, Restaurant Marc Forgione is an approachable place “that people walk by and are compelled to enter and where the ingredients are the star.” In addition to the Iron Chef title, Forgione was most recently awarded his third Michelin star in the 2012 guide, making him the youngest American-born chef and owner to receive the honor in consecutive years (2010, 2011, 2012). In spring 2012, Chef Forgione will open American Cut at Revel in Atlantic City, combining his signature take on fine dining with the comforts of the new American steakhouse. Johnny Iuzzini Johnny Iuzzini, former Executive Pastry Chef at award winning Restaurant Jean-Georges and café Nougatine in New York City, hails from the Catskills in upstate New York. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with twenty years of kitchen experience since the age of 15, he boasts a heavy list of experience at highly lauded dining locations such as The River Café in Brooklyn, NY, Daniel, Payard and Café Boulud in New York City. His enrichment continued during a journey around the world in 1998 as well as to study pastry at some of the finest patisseries in France including LaDuree under Pierre Herme. Chef Iuzzini was deemed “Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation in 2006, followed by accolades such as “10 Most Influential Pastry Chefs in America” by Forbes, “Best New Pastry Chef” by New York Magazine, and named one of the “Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America” two years in a row by Pastry Arts and Design. Entwined in these rankings are several appearances on major network television shows including Martha Stewart, Paula Dean and Tony Danza, as well as being seen on Top Chef Chicago, The Today Show and Good Morning America.