Jonathan Waxman is an American chef who was one of the pioneers of

California cuisine California cuisine is a food movement that originated in California. The cuisine focuses on dishes that are driven by local and sustainable ingredients with an attention to seasonality and an emphasis on the bounty of the region. The food is hi ...

and is credited with being the first to bring its style, fusing French cooking techniques with the freshest local ingredients, to New York.

Biography

Born in 1950, Waxman grew up near

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. After graduating from the University of Nevada at Reno, he found work playing in bands at casinos and later with a rock band named "Lynx". Waxman eventually gave up his career as a trombonist to study at La Varenne cooking school in France. In 1979, he and restaurateur

Michael McCarty Michael McCarty (September 7, 1946 - September 26, 2014) was an American movie, television, and stage actor. He was known for his roles in ''Casper'' (1995), ''Dead Man'' (1995), and in '' The Legend of Bagger Vance'' (2000). He was born in Evan ...

opened Michael's Restaurant in an old mansion near the Santa Monica beach; the groundbreaking cuisine attracted diners from all over America. Five years later, he opened Jams Restaurant on East 79th Street in New York; the chance to dine with what ''New York Magazine'' called "an elder statesman of the new California cooking" made Jams the most sought after dining sensation of the season. His work at Jams made him a

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 ...

; "whoever said chefs in the 80's were like rock-and-roll stars", said one reviewer, "had Jonathan in mind." Among other restaurants created by Waxman are Bud's, Hulot's, Jams of London and Table 29. ''Esquire'' magazine put him on its list of most influential Americans. Waxman is currently the chef-owner of Barbuto (restaurant) in New York City's West Village, Jams in New York City's Midtown, Brezza Cucina in Atlanta's Ponce City Market, Adele's in Nashville, and in 2016 opened Waxman's at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. According to ''New York Magazine'', Barbuto's food is "rustic Italian," and the mood is "casually hip." His cookbook published by Simon & Schuster was released in 2011. In 2018, Waxman served as a guest judge on

season nine A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with the UK version in July 1990. The format was revived and updated for the BBC in February 2005 by executive producers Roddam and John ...

'', and was introduced as the mentor of Aarón Sanchez. In 2021, he again appeared as a guest judge for the show on season eleven.

Top Chef: Masters

In 2010, Waxman was a contestant on Bravo's '' Top Chef: Masters''. He was eliminated in the penultimate episode, placing fourth out of eighteen competitors. James Oseland, one of the main judges for season two of Top Chef: Masters, has been quoted saying, "I think he is one of the country’s greatest chefs."

Personal life

He lives in Manhattan with his wife Sally and three children. Top Chef: Masters biography

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waxman, Jonathan Chefs from New York City Chefs from Berkeley, California Living people James Beard Foundation Award winners American restaurateurs 1950 births