F-bombs and foie gras! And a boss B known for being…nice? These celebrity chefs
seriously hit it big. From the naked to the ugly, you ain't seen Nobu yet.
Kwame Onwuachi may be young, but his incredible story and personable nature have cemented him
amongst the upper echelons of celebrity chefdom. Most came to know him through
Season 13 of "Top Chef," where he finished in sixth place. As he recalled to Mashed,
"You get to learn a lot, right? You get to cook for really amazing people time and
time again [...] You're able to get real feedback and evolve and grow as a chef."
Surprisingly, what truly made him a celebrity wasn't his success but,
instead, his failure. His first restaurant, Shaw Bijou, closed its doors in less than three months,
according to Eater. And bad reviews from major outlets like The Washington Post,
looked like they might destroy Onwuachi's budding career for good.
But as the New York Times noted, his comeback as head chef of restaurant Kith and Kin,
alongside the release of his memoir "Notes From a Young Black Chef," turned his narrative around,
won him numerous awards and praise, and elevated him to superstardom.
"Let's cheers to that."
Arguably the most well-known celebrity chef in the world, Gordon Ramsay has been a regular
fixture on TV screens across the globe since the late '90s. His series, "Boiling Point," launched
his career as a celebrity chef, following Ramsay as he opened his flagship restaurant.
But despite his outpost achieving three Michelin stars and many other
ventures winning stars of their own, Ramsay's furious outbursts have formed the basis of his
fame. Many tuned in to "Kitchen Nightmares" and "Hell's Kitchen" just to see the fireworks.
"That's gristle, you f---ing idiot."
"Ok."
But his passionate persona isn't just for ratings. As he explained to Bon Appétit,
"When I get angry, I'm just being honest, and I don't think it's ever going to be any different.
I, like any good chef, want everything to be perfect. [...] When you are in the
middle of service, it's like four to five hours of being in a pressure cooker."
Carla Hall made a name for herself as many future celebrity chefs do:
via televised cooking competitions. In Hall's case,
"Top Chef" laid the foundation for her future success, according to Metro Weekly.
Hall finished as a runner-up on the show, but broke away from the pack thanks to her
kind nature. Hall was so widely liked that she was invited back for Season 8 "Top Chef
All-Stars." Her warmth even led her to be voted a fan favorite for the season.
"I think about the love that my grandmothers and my family
gave us in all those Sunday suppers and I want to pay that forward."
Given her culinary knowledge, growing popularity, and personable nature,
it came as no surprise when she was announced as one of five hosts on "The Chew" in 2012.
Despite the show's cancellation in 2018, Hall has continued to rise as a culinary contributor
on "Good Morning America," with guest spots and appearances just about everywhere else.
Britain's 20th-century eminent celebrity chef, Delia Smith, cut her teeth at London's eatery The
Singing Chef. And despite baking the cake on the cover of The Rolling Stones album "Let it Bleed,"
it was Smith's writing that first brought attention to her name.
Back in 1969, she got a job at The Daily Mirror, a role which was followed by positions at a number
of British newspapers. These writing jobs proved the perfect springboard for Smith to
launch perhaps the most successful and well-known aspect of her career. Her cookbooks — 24 of them
to date — have sold over 21 million copies and paved the way for her to launch a career in TV.
"My ambition and my dream is that anyone who wants to learn to cook can."
The enormous platform Smith built created what's now a commonplace celebrity phenomenon.
The so-called Delia effect — where ingredients, tools, and products
mentioned by the celebrity chef would quickly sell out — marked Smith as a culinary superstar.
Originally known as The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver rose to fame as a boyish,
cheerful cook, who seemed born to be on camera. His skills were honed at the age of 16 when he
started working in the kitchen at his parents' gastropub in Essex. It was while a production
team was filming a documentary at London's River Cafe that Oliver caught their eye.
In a little under two years after his discovery, Oliver's first show "The Naked Chef" hit the air.
It was a smash hit, drawing in crowds who weren't normally fans of cooking shows. Multiple
cookbooks and other series followed, ensuring Oliver has remained a mainstay, ever since.
Meanwhile in Britain and later, the U.S., Oliver reached a whole new level of celebrity through his
work on the intersection between food and social issues. This side of his career, exemplified
by the Feed Me Better campaign, has aimed to improve access to nutritious food. Most recently,
campaigning has led Oliver to successfully support the UK's introduction of a sugar tax.
Despite being born into a family of bakers and developing a mean sweet tooth as a kid,
it still took Christina Tosi some time to decide that cooking would be her career path.
And it took her even longer to realize she didn't want to be whipping up the
usual restaurant dessert tray. She told Inc.,
"I didn't relate deep down with these fancy desserts.
I loved the art of them, I loved the craft of them, but they just weren't me."
"My spirit and my heart started in the home kitchen with really down-home baked goods."
What ultimately set her apart were her delicious flavor combinations. Addictive creations like
cereal milk ice cream and compost cookies have led her to win multiple James Beard awards, and a
spot on the Netflix series, "Chef's Table." Tosi's status as a celebrity chef is only reinforced by
the continued expansion of her Milk Bar empire. Marcus Samuelsson's most enduring childhood memory
is the smell of his grandma's house. And that's where he developed his passion for
cooking. He gained experience as a young adult, working in kitchens across Europe. But it was
an internship at New York City's Aquavit that set Samuelsson up for an impressive career.
"I love culture, I love art, I love so many different things, but cooking is the core."
But real stardom came with the opening of Red Rooster, Samuelsson's own restaurant in Harlem.
As noted by The New York Times, the outpost quickly became renowned for its great food,
bubbling atmosphere, and refreshingly genuine celebration of diversity. But the media frenzy
cranked up to an eleven, when then-President Barack Obama hosted a fundraiser at Red Rooster.
Samuelsson duly reinforced his celebrity chef status, in part by taking on other roles that
exposed him to the wider public, including a spot as guest editor and advisor at Bon Appétit.
It's rare that an established celebrity chooses to dive into the culinary business. But Barbara
Smith was just the person to do it. Having carved a successful career for herself as a model back
in the '70s, Smith began her rise to celebrity chef status with a similar groundbreaking intent.
"You just have to love what you do and follow those recipes."
Smith set about dismantling the obstacles facing Black restaurateurs and acting as
a role model to younger generations, according to The New Yorker. Chef and artist Krystal Mack
was one of the many who have been impacted by B. Smith's trailblazing. She explained,
"She is someone who has given a voice and face to Black women in food media, and quite frankly,
many of us probably wouldn't be where we are without her proven valuation of Black women."
The beloved chef and lifestyle guru died of Alzheimer's in 2020 at the age of 70.
Being the first British chef to win three Michelin stars drove Marco
Pierre White into the stratosphere. But, according to The New York Times,
he reached wider notoriety thanks to his reputation as a chef with a fiery temper.
Still, at 38 years old — with the world at his feet — White retired
from the kitchen. As he told Luxury London:
"I was sick of being judged by people with less knowledge than me,
it was ludicrous. And the truth is that winning three stars is intensely exciting
but maintaining them is the most boring thing in the world."
"I never wanted to be a chef."
The Sunday Times dubbed White the world's first celebrity chef, even though his work in TV and
advertising was somewhat limited. His occasional appearances on "MasterChef" do little to explain
the fame that continues to be associated with his name, over 20 years after his retirement.
One such reason may be that proteges like Gordon Ramsay continue to drive the industry forward.
David Chang was born to a parent in the industry. But his father was less
than thrilled about his son pursuing a life dedicated to kitchen work and tried to coax
him toward other careers. Even so, the allure of the kitchen proved too strong. And before long,
Chang had borrowed money to launch his own restaurant: Momofuku. You might have heard of it.
The growing hype around Chang's original noodle bar came by way of the honest,
hearty, and reasonably priced menu. But Chang's star really began to rise when he
opened Momofuku Ssäm Bar and Momofuku Ko. As one restaurant became three,
Chang revealed his ability to adapt and innovate on an unforeseen scale.
"I took too big of a bite."
Netflix's "Ugly Delicious" and Chang's food magazine "Lucky Peach," both proved to be
groundbreaking for the gastronomic world. But it's his continued ability to express a unique voice
across both the culinary and media landscapes that has led Chang to attain legendary status.
While the majority of people on this list have earned their status through regimented culinary
training and practice, Rachael Ray found fame by showcasing her own informal style.
"Garlic, shallots, lemon—"
After hustling at a variety of jobs, Ray found that she most enjoyed working with food.
She also realized that the American public wanted to know how to make
quick, easy, and delicious meals. So, Ray set about providing just that and
hosting cooking classes at the grocery store where she worked. And it was that
experience that quickly caught the eye of TV producers, according to Good Housekeeping.
These classes soon transformed into Food Network's Emmy-winning "30 Minute Meals," where Ray embraced
her lack of culinary training and rarely used complex techniques. Thanks to that,
she won the hearts of legions of fans. As the world's most famous purveyor of fusion
cuisine, Nobu Matsuhisa has become a household name. After working in both Japan and Peru,
Nobu sought to combine his favorite parts of both cuisines: sushi from Japan and unique South
American flavors from Peru. The combination of techniques and ingredients was the star
of the show at his restaurant in Beverly Hills, impressing the Los Angeles elite.
Amongst them was Robert De Niro,
who loved the chef's cooking so much that he backed Matsuhisa's expansion to New York.
The resulting restaurant, Nobu, has become a sensation with locations spanning the globe.
"Casual, good foods, energies, nice view."
While a celebrity client list has its benefits, it's Nobu's talent that has cemented his fame.
Impeccable skill is demanded when it comes to upscale sushi, but additional mastery is
required to succeed in fusion cuisine. Yet, the masterstroke that has caused the Nobu empire to
endure is its master chef's uncanny knack for crafting menus that can satisfy anyone — even
those who aren't huge fans of raw fish. According to The Guardian, Heston Blumenthal
spent his young adulthood working as a credit controller and only began cooking in a kitchen
when he opened his own restaurant, The Fat Duck. But the untraditional entry into the industry
mirrors the chef's own unique nature and wacky, scientific cooking style.
"They sound pretty amazed, actually."
It's that unique Blumenthal technique that earned him culinary and scientific praise, and the title
of the world's best restaurant for The Fat Duck in 2005. Yet, an eatery of that prestige is rarely
accessible to all. And Blumenthal had to rely on another means of connecting with his fans. This
arrived in the form of TV shows like "Heston's Fantastical Food," "Heston's Feasts" and "Heston's
Mission Impossible," all of which exemplified the chef's taste for dinner and a show.
Chef Anthony Bourdain's book "Kitchen Confidential'' — the tell-all that
revealed what a back-breaking career in the kitchen was like — shocked the world and gained
him instant notoriety. And Bourdain rode the wave of fame until his untimely death in 2018.
"Everything important I ever learned, I learned, I learned as a dishwasher and as a cook."
The reasons for his continued popularity are plenty. But it might really come
down to Bourdain's undeniable passion for food. As reported by The New York Times,
he championed the regular kitchen worker and celebrated the industry as it was — a
method far removed from the sanitized writings of other prominent journalists.
Bourdain went on to become a figurehead for the industry and a beloved icon for the masses.
"This is the path to true happiness."