Geoffrey Zakarian (born July 25, 1959) is an American

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

, television personality and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He is the executive chef of several restaurants in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Gillespie, Nick and Amanda Winkler (2013-11-25
Iron Chef Geoff Zakarian Talks Food, Freedom, and the Future of American Cuisine
'' Reason.com'' He is featured on several

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

s on the Food Network, including ''

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 ...

'' and '' The Next Iron Chef'' on which, in 2011, he won the right to join ''

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 ...

''.

Early life and education

Zakarian was born July 25, 1959, in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, to an Armenian-American father, musician George Zakarian, and a

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

mother, Viola (née Hekowicz). He has a sister, Virginia, and brother, George. He graduated from

Burncoat High School Burncoat High School is a public magnet high school in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States. The school was formerly known as Burncoat Senior High School chiefly to distinguish it from the adjacent Burncoat Junior High School, now Burncoa ...

in 1977. He earned a degree in economics from

Worcester State University Worcester State University (WSU) is a public university in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1874 and enrolls nearly 5,500 undergraduates and over 900 graduate students. History Founded in 1874 as the Massachusetts State Normal Sch ...

, and then went to France, where he decided to be a chef. He began his culinary career with an associate degree from the Culinary Institute of America in

Hyde Park, New York Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Frankl ...

. As an apprentice chef, he began his work under chef

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, the Berkshires and Dubai. He is best known for h ...

at ''Le Cirque'', where he was named "Chef de Cuisine" from 1982 to 1987.

Career

In 1990, he became the executive chef at ''44'', a restaurant described by ''

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 ...

'' as "trendy" and "chic," located at the

Royalton Hotel The Royalton Hotel is a hotel at 44 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The hotel, opened in 1898, was designed by architecture firm Rossiter & Wright and developed by civil engineer Edward G. Bailey. The 13-st ...

in midtown Manhattan. William Grimes, also of ''The New York Times'', described Zakarian as "the reason that ''44'' in the Royalton Hotel was always a lot better than it needed to be" in 2001. Previously, in 1992, ''44'' had received only two stars from ''The New York Times'' columnist Bryan Miller. In 1996, he was hired to oversee Old Navy's ill-fated coffee bar and coffee cart division with David Brody of Z100

WHTZ WHTZ (100.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial contemporary hit radio, top 40/CHR station city of license, licensed to Newark, New Jersey and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, WHTZ is the Flagship (broadcasti ...

. He then went on to work for the ''Blue Door'' of the Delano Hotel in

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

. In 1998, he became the executive chef at ''Patroon'' in Manhattan, which was awarded three stars (excellent) by ''New York Times'' critic Ruth Reichl. In the spring of 2000, Zakarian worked with Alain Passard, a renowned French chef at the three-

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

restaurant ''Arpège'' in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. His style is described as "modern" with roots in

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

, or as he describes it, "dynamic American." Zakarian owned two restaurants, ''Town'' and ''Country'', both of which are in Manhattan. They have been rated with three stars by ''The New York Times''. His restaurant ''Town'' was located on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan in the ''Chambers Hotel'' and opened in Spring 2001 but closed in 2009. ''Country'' is located in the ''Carlton Hotel'' near

Madison Square Park Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...

and opened in 2005. The restaurant has earned a Michelin Star. Zakarian is now a consultant at the Water Club in

and executive chef at the Lamb's Club in

. The Lambs Club restaurant is not connected in any way to the historical theatre club The Lambs (known as The Lambs Club since 1874). In the spring of 2006, Zakarian released his first book, ''Geoffrey Zakarian's Town / Country''. It was quoted as being "one of the best of 2006" by ''The New York Times'' columnist

Amanda Hesser Amanda Hesser (born 1971) is an American food writer, editor, cookbook author and entrepreneur. Most notably, she was the food editor of ''The New York Times Magazine'', the editor of '' T Living'', a quarterly publication of ''The New York Times'' ...

. The book features 150 recipes for family, friends and "Life Around the Table." He is Chairman of the City Harvest Food Council, a food rescue organization dedicated to fighting hunger in New York City.

Legal issues

In spring 2011, Zakarian filed for personal bankruptcy in response to a class action lawsuit against him by his former employees. The employees alleged he violated labor laws and sued for back pay. Two of Zakarian's partners in the related restaurant supported the workers' claims, but Zakarian's publicist denied the claims. The matter was settled out of court. In July 2015, Zakarian withdrew from a planned American-style concept restaurant called The National in the

Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. The Old Post Office, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Old Post Office and Clock Tower, is located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. It is a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National H ...

in the wake of controversial comments made by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

about undocumented immigrants. Trump's statements "do not in any way align with my personal core values," Zakarian said. "We are a nation built from immigrants, my family included." Zakarian was expected to lose a $500,000 lease deposit. Trump sued Zakarian in August 2015 for a sum "in excess of $10 million" for lost rent and other damages. The matter was settled out of court in April 2017.

Television

He has appeared numerous times on Food Network's ''Chopped'' series as a judge with fellow restaurateurs

Scott Conant Scott Conant (born February 19, 1971) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. Since 2009, Conant has been a judge on the reality cooking television series ''Chopped''. He has published four cookbooks. Early life Conant ...

Chris Santos Chris Santos is a New York City chef and the former executive chef and owner of The Stanton Social in New York's Lower East Side. In late 2010, he opened Beauty & Essex, a 250-seat, restaurant in the heart of the lower east side. He is a recurr ...

, Aarón Sánchez,

Amanda Freitag Amanda Freitag (born May 11, 1972) is an American celebrity chef, and cookbook author. She is known for her frequent guest on Food Network television programs and work as a judge on the television cooking competitions. She is based in New York Cit ...

, Marcus Samuelsson,

Marc Murphy Marc Murphy may refer to: * Marc Murphy (footballer) * Marc Murphy (chef) Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format us ...

Maneet Chauhan Maneet Chauhan (born 27 October 1976 in Ludhiana, Punjab) is an Indian American chef and television personality. Previously the Executive Chef of several notable restaurants in Chicago, Nashville, and New York, she is featured as a judge on ''C ...

and

Alex Guarnaschelli {{Infobox chef , name = Alex Guarnaschelli , image = , caption = , birth_date = {{birth date and age, 1969, 6, 20 , birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. , birth_name = Alexandra Maria Guarnaschelli ...

since the show began, and has also appeared in the Food Network's series ''24 Hour Restaurant Battle'', also as a judge. He has also been on

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chef ...

as a judge and has appeared in Hell's Kitchen. Zakarian competed as well as a challenger on

in May 2010 where he faced Masaharu Morimoto and lost with a score of 57 to 43. Zakarian was named the winner of The Next Iron Chef in December 2011, defeating

Elizabeth Falkner Elizabeth Falkner (born February 12, 1966) is an American chef, pastry chef, author, restaurateur, and consulting chef. She has appeared as a competitor and sometimes a judge on reality television cooking competitions, and she is a Top Chef tele ...

in the season finale. In January 2014, Zakarian became a co-host on the Food Network's series '' The Kitchen'' along with

Jeff Mauro Jeff Mauro (born July 24, 1978) is the co-host of the Food Network series ''The Kitchen'' and host of ''Sandwich King'' and ''$24 in 24''. Prior to this, he was the winner of the Food Network Star (season 7), seventh season of the ''Food Network ...

, Katie Lee,

Marcela Valladolid Marcela Luz Valladolid (born July 19, 1978) is an American chef and author. She was the host of the Food Network television series ''Mexican Made Easy'', and a judge on the Food Network series '' Best Baker in America''. Early life Valladolid wa ...

and

Sunny Anderson Sunny Anderson (born April 9, 1975) is a Food Network personality. She began hosting '' How'd That Get On My Plate?'' in July 2008. She also hosts the Food Network program ''Cooking for Real'' (beginning in April 2008), and served as co-host wi ...

. Zakarian has also appeared on ''

Cutthroat Kitchen ''Cutthroat Kitchen'' is an American cooking show hosted by Alton Brown that aired on the Food Network from August 11, 2013 to July 19, 2017. It features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination cooking competition. The contestants face ...

'' as a judge ("Well, Hot Clam!") and contestant ("Judging Judges"). In 2016, he began hosting the Food Network series ''

Cooks vs. Cons 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 (w ...

'', where judges try to determine if a winning dish was done by a professional chef or a home cook.

Personal life

Zakarian married Margaret Anne Williams, a marketing executive, in 2005. They have two daughters, Anna and Madeline, and one son, George. He was previously married to Heather Karaman for approximately ten years. Zakarian is a "long-time subscriber to ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakarian, Geoffrey 1959 births Living people American people of Armenian descent American restaurateurs American television chefs American male chefs American libertarians Food Network chefs Writers from Worcester, Massachusetts American people of Polish descent Worcester State University alumni Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni Reality cooking competition winners