Amanda Freitag (born May 11, 1972) is an American

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...

, and cookbook author. She is known for her frequent guest on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

television programs and work as a judge on the television cooking competitions. She is based in New York City.

Early life and education

Freitag was raised in

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,411, reflecting an increase of 111 (+0.9%) from the 12,300 counted in the 2000 Census, w ...

. She attended Cedar Grove High School, then known as Memorial High School, where her home economics teacher, Joan Levine, suggested that Freitag might be interested in attending the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

(CIA). Freitag attended CIA at the Hyde Park location, graduating in 1989.

Restaurant career

Following graduation in 1989, Freitag took a position at Vong New York working under chef

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Vongerichten (; ; born in Alsace, France, on 16 March 1957) is a French chef.

. In 1994, she left Vong to cook at Verbena, under chef Diane Forley. Freitag has stated that her time at Verbena was meaningful and she built important relationships, and where she first learned to focus on using local, organic ingredients. After Verbena, Freitag traveled to France and Italy, working for a short while at L'Arpège restaurant under chef

Alain Passard Alain Passard (; born 4 August 1956 at La Guerche-de-Bretagne, France) is a French chef and owner of the three michelin star restaurant L'Arpège in Paris. The son of musicians, Passard plays the saxophone. History and mentors Alain Passard ...

in 1999. In 2003, Freitag and restaurateur Godfrey Polistina opened the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

restaurant ''Cesca Enoteca & Trattoria''. Freitag was

chef de cuisine A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is ...

at Cesca, before moving to an executive chef position at ''The Harrison''. On September 3, 2010, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that Freitag would be leaving the Harrison, and the restaurant's owner, Jimmy Bradley, will return as chef. From January 2014 until July 2015, Freitag took over as executive chef of the

Empire Diner The Empire Diner is a restaurant in New York City that launched a vogue for upscale retro diners, and whose art deco exterior became an iconic image in numerous films and television programs. It is located at the corner of Tenth Avenue and 22nd ...

in Manhattan, New York. In September 2020, Freitag and Kevin Lillis’ Hospitality Alliance opened the bistro ''Rise & Thyme'' in Dallas, Texas.

Restaurants

Current

* ''Rise & Thyme'', Dallas (2020–present)

Former

Television appearances

Since 2009, Freitag is a frequent judge on the culinary reality game show ''

Chopped Chopped can have the following meanings: * Chopped and screwed Chopped and screwed (also called screwed and chopped or slowed and throwed) is a music genre and technique of remixing music that involves slowing down the tempo and deejaying. It ...

''. In 2009, She battled

Bobby Flay Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...

on ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

'' in “Battle:

King Crab King crabs are a taxon of decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab (''Paralithodes camtscha ...

” (season 7, episode 10), with judges Keyshawn Johnson,

Maggie Rodriguez Margarita Dania Rodriguez (born December 12, 1969) is a former co-anchor of the CBS television broadcast, ''The Early Show'', from December 2007 to December 2010. Rodriguez was also a substitute anchor for Katie Couric on ''The CBS Evening News'' ...

, and Domenica Catelli. She narrowly lost, with a score of 49 against Flay's 50 points. The judging was evenly matched, with the exception of Freitag having earned one point fewer in the "taste" category. Freitag competed in ''

The Next Iron Chef ''The Next Iron Chef'' is a limited-run series on the Food Network that aired its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program ''Iron ...

'' Season 2, finishing in fourth place. Freitag stated she would continue as a judge on ''Chopped'' for the 2010 season and she returned for the season four episode "Against the Tide". On the April 15, 2012 episode of ''

'', Freitag appeared alongside ''

'' Grand Champion Madison Cowan in "Battle: Kale", acting as Cowan's sous chef. She appeared as a contestant on season five of ''

''. She lost to Alexandra Guarnaschelli in the finale on December 23. On May 22, 2015, she and

Ty Pennington Tygert Burton "Ty" Pennington (born Gary Tygert Burton) is an American television host, artist, carpenter, author, and former model and actor. His rise to prominence began with his role as carpenter on the TLC home improvement reality show ' ...

began hosting the new Food Network series ''American Diner Revival'', on which they make over diners' menus and interiors.The Food Network: American Diner Revival
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Publications

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freitag, Amanda 1972 births Culinary Institute of America alumni Food Network chefs Women chefs People from Cedar Grove, New Jersey Living people