Characters

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  KELLY CHOI

  Host

  Kelly Choi is an acclaimed food journalist and creator, producer and host of NYC TV's weekly restaurant show Eat Out NY. A former model, Choi recently finished her first book The 20 Most Delicious Dishes in New York. Born in Seoul, Korea, Choi won the Elite Modeling Agency’s "Look of the Year" contest, and has been voted as "One of the Sexiest New Yorkers" by the New York Post. She has a Masters degree in Magazine Writing from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

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  GAEL GREENE

  Judge

  As New York Magazine's famed restaurant critic for over 30 years and the Insatiable Critic Columnist, Gael Greene has gone to great lengths to conceal her identity so that no restaurateurs can identify her. A best-selling author, Greene has written Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat To Ask, The Mafia Guide to Dining Out and Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen.

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  JAMES OSELAND

  Judge

  James Oseland has been the editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine since 2006. In 2006 his book, Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, was published and went on to win awards from the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Before becoming a journalist, Oseland wrote, ghostwrote and acted in numerous films. He holds a BFA and MFA in photography and film studies from the San Francisco Art Institute.

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  JAY RAYNER

  Judge

  Jay Rayner is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster who has written for a wide range of British newspapers and magazines. After graduating from Leeds University in 1988, he joined The Observer newspaper for whom he now reviews restaurants. Most recently, Rayner came out with The Man Who Ate the World, a tour of the world's greatest restaurant cities and his search for the perfect meal.

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  GRAHAM ELLIOT BOWLES

  Having started his culinary education at Johnson and Wales University, Graham Elliot Bowles began his career by working at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, a five star property located in Dallas, Texas. Bowles has since gone on to open Graham Elliot in Chicago, a "bistronomic" restaurant combining four-star cuisine with humour and accessibility.

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  RICK BAYLESS

  A Chicago based chef, award-winning authour and restaurateur, Rick Bayless opened his first restaurant in 1987, Frontera Grill located in Chicago that specialises in Mexican cooking.

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  WILO BENET

  A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Wilo Benet honed his craft in several New York City restaurants such as Maurice, Le Bernardin and the Water Club. In 2004, Benet opened Payá, a Creole fusion restaurant.

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  JOHN BESH

  John Besh is the executive chef and co-owner of the Besh Restaurant Group based in New Orleans. His collection of restaurants include August, La Provence, Lüke, and Besh Steak. He has been referred to as a creative visionary whose passion helped transform a culture.

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  MICHAEL CHIARELLO

  Michael Chiarello is the acclaimed Napa Valley chef/owner of Bottega Restaurant. Chiarello’s knowledge of cooking began at an early age in the home of his Italian family. He has cooked and entertained thousands, including former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Oprah Winfrey. Chiarello incorporates his personal passion for living seasonally and sustainably into his businesses.

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  MICHAEL CIMARUSTI

  Michael Cimarusti got his start in the Big Apple working with celebrated chef Larry Forigone at An American Place. Cimarusti moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania where he was appointed chef de cuisine at The Forager House Restaurant, but soon migrated back to Manhattan. He is currently Owner and Chef of Providence Restaurant in Los Angeles.

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  WYLIE DUFRESNE

  Wylie Dufresne is the chef/owner of New York’s highly celebrated wd~50 restaurant. The Lower East Side eatery was awarded a Michelin star in 2006. Dufresne owns wd~50 with chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and restaurateur Phil Suarez, acquired its unique name from the combination of Dufresne’s initials and the restaurant’s street address.

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  ELIZABETH FALKNER

  Elizabeth Falkner had hopes of pursuing a career in film. She changed her mind dramatically after she began working in the food industry. She started as a pastry chef at some of San Francisco’s most renowned restaurants, which resulted in opening her own dessert restaurant. She is currently Executive Chef and Owner of both Citizen Cake and Orson restaurants in San Francisco.

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  HUBERT KELLER

  Born in Alsace, France, Hubert Keller is one of the world’s most acclaimed chefs, known best for his world-renowned restaurants, Fleur de Lys, the Burger Bar and SLeeK Steakhouse. He was the first guest chef at the White House, where he prepared a gourmet dinner for President Clinton and his family.

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  CHRISTOPHER LEE

  Chef Christopher Lee broke into the culinary world at the early age of 15. Chef Lee currently runs the kitchen at Aureole in New York, where his cuisine fuses high-concept thought and flavour pairing with a respect for purity and seasonality, always with the diner in mind.

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  LUDO LEFEBVRE

  After training in Paris for 13 years Lefebvre moved to Los Angeles to work at L’Orangerie, one of the top-rated restaurants in California. Lee returned to California to open Ludo Bites in the Spring of 2009.

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  ANITA LO

  Anita Lo is the chef and owner of New York restaurant Annisa. Lo comes from a second generation Chinese-American family that fostered her passion for eating and cooking. After studying cooking in Paris, she returned to New York and worked her way through all the stations at David Waltuck’s Chanterelle and became known as a contemporary American chef.

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  TIM LOVE

  Travel to Tim Love’s The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Fort Worth, Texas and you’ll find him donning a cowboy hat instead of a chef’s toque. Love is best known for his urban spin on traditional western dishes and has put Fort Worth on the national culinary map.

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  RICK MOONEN

  From 1994 to 2005, Moonen earned three stars from the New York Times for his work at Oceana, Molyvos. Moonen’s passion and vocalisation of sustainable seafood practices led him to publish Fish Without a Doubt in 2008. Sensitive to consumers’ home cooking needs, the cookbook is intended to serve as inspiration to chefs and their cooking choices.

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  NILS NOREN

  Sweden native Nils Noren attended his hometown Culinary School in Gavle before developing culinary expertise in several of Stockholm’s finest restaurants. He moved to the United States to accept a position at New York’s Aquavit. In a 2008 survey of 40 top New York chefs, Noren was voted "The chef that should have gotten an award by now, but hasn't."

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  LACHLAN MACKINNON PATTERSON

  After a long stint working in France, Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson returned to the U.S. where he met his current business partner, Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey. Stuckey and Mackinnon Patterson own Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, with cuisine inspired by the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy.

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  CINDY PAWLCYN

  Cindy Pawlcyn is widely recognised as a pioneer of wine country cooking and one of the first proponents of the farm to table philosophy. Pawlcyn began cooking at the tender age of 13 years-old, and through college and self-study was able to work alongside the likes of James Beard and Julia Child.

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  MARK PEEL

  In college, Mark landed a job peeling vegetables for Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison. He eventually worked his way up to poissonier before moving to France for stints at La Tour d’Argent and Le Moulin de Mougins. Since his return from France, Peel has worked for Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, opened the La Brea Bakery and co-authored several cookbooks.

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  DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ

  Rodriguez is well known for being the "Godfather" of Latin Cuisine and coining the phrase "Nuevo Latino" in his first book in 1997. As Chef/Founder of Patria Restaurant, he received a three star review in The New York Times and was the James Beard Award Winner for "Rising Star Chef" in 1996.

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  MICHAEL SCHLOW

  Michael Schlow began his culinary journey when he traded a baseball scholarship for a set of Wusthof knives and a place at the Academy of Culinary Arts in New Jersey. In 2000, Schlow won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef in the Northeast" and his restaurant Radius in Boston was named "Best New Restaurant" by Food and Wine. Michael is a regular contributor to culinary publications and has appeared on numerous national cooking shows.

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  ART SMITH

  Well known for being Oprah Winfrey's long time personal chef, Art Smith is the co-owner of the successful restaurant TABLE fifty-two in Chicago, as well as Art and Soul restaurant in Washington DC.

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  SUZANNE TRACHT

  Suzanne Tracht is on top of the culinary world as Executive Chef and Owner of two distinct California restaurants – Jar, a modern chophouse in the center of Los Angeles and Tracht’s, which features retro Americana cuisine in Long Beach.

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  JONATHAN WAXMAN

  Working as a successful chef, restaurateur and author, Jonathan Waxman has graced such prestigious kitchens as Chez Panisse in Berkeley and Michael’s in Los Angeles. Waxman went on to open his own restaurant in New York City – Jams, as well as the famed. Giving back is important to Waxman and he works closely with many charities including City Meals on Wheels.

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  ROY YAMAGUCHI

  Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, Roy Yamaguchi moved to the U.S. to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Owner of 37 Roy’s restaurants worldwide, he boasts the honour of being the first Hawaiian restaurateur to win the prestigious James Beard Award.