This is a list of American restaurateurs. A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs
restaurants
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
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 aspects of the restaurant business.
Ignacio Anaya
Ignacio Anaya García (15 August 1895 – 9 November 1975) was a Mexican maître d' who invented the popular Tex-Mex dish nachos at the Victory Club restaurant a couple miles from the border of Texas in Mexico in 1943. After nachos grew in p ...
Hiroaki Aoki
Hiroaki is a masculine Japanese given name. It can be written in many ways. In the following lists, the kanji in parentheses are the individual's way of writing the name Hiroaki.
Possible writings
*(written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ...
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Andrea Apuzzo
Andrea Apuzzo is an Italian-American chef. His restaurant, ''Andrea's'', in Metairie, Louisiana, United States, is one of the New Orleans area's noted restaurants.
Apuzzo was born and raised in Italy, on the Isle of Capri, but has traveled and ...
Anthony Athanas
Anthony Athanas (July 28, 1911 – May 20, 2005) was a multi-millionaire Albanian American restaurateur and philanthropist. His restaurants included Anthony's Pier 4, known throughout United States. In 1976 the National Restaurant Association name ...
Joe Bastianich
Joseph Bastianich (born September 17, 1968) is an American restaurateur, winemaker, author, television personality, and musician. He, along with his mother and business partner Lidia Bastianich, co-owns thirty restaurants in four countries, incl ...
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Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Giuliana Matticchio Bastianich (; born February 21, 1947) is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur. Specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine, Bastianich has been a regular contributor to ...
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Mario Batali
Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and ...
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Joe Baum
Joseph Harold Baum (August 17, 1920 – October 5, 1998) was an American restaurateur and innovator responsible for creating the country's first themed restaurants, including The Four Seasons Restaurant, Windows on the World, and the restored Rai ...
Rick Bayless
Rick Bayless (born November 23, 1953) is an American chef and restaurateur who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is widely known for his PBS series '' Mexico: One Plate at a Time''. Among his various acc ...
Sherman Billingsley
John Sherman Billingsley (March 10, 1896 – October 4, 1966) was an American nightclub owner and former bootlegger who was the founder and owner of New York's Stork Club.
Life and career
John Sherman Billingsley was the youngest child of ...
Richard Blais
Richard Blais (born February 12, 1972) is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show '' Top Chef'', and is known for his take on classic American cuisine. Blais was the runner ...
Justin Bogle
Justin Bogle was the executive chef at Gilt restaurant in New York. In 2009, Bogle became the youngest American chef, at age 28, to earn two Michelin stars. Bogle has been described as a quiet, but equally talented version of chef Paul Liebrandt ...
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Ettore Boiardi
Ettore Boiardi (October 22, 1897 – June 21, 1985), better known by the Anglicized name Hector Boyardee, was an Italian-American chef, famous for his eponymous brand of food products, named Chef Boyardee.
Early life
Boiardi was born in Piace ...
Henry L. Bowles
Henry Leland Bowles (January 6, 1866 – May 17, 1932) was an American politician who served as a United States representative from Massachusetts.
Biography
Bowles was born in Athens, Vermont on January 6, 1866. He attended the district school ...
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Gary Brackett
Gary Lawrence Brackett (born May 23, 1980) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Rutgers, and signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2003. Brackett ...
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Ella Brennan
Ella Brennan (November 27, 1925 – May 31, 2018) was an American restaurateur and part of a family of restaurateurs specializing in haute Louisiana Creole cuisine in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Early life and education
Brennan was born in New Orl ...
Ralph Brennan
Ralph Brennan is a New Orleans-based restaurateur and head of The Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group.
A former CPA with Price Waterhouse & Company, Brennan entered the family business in the early 1980s as one of a group of eight third-generation co ...
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Richard Brennan (restaurateur)
Richard J. “Dick” Brennan Sr. (1931-March 14, 2015) was a New Orleans restaurateur who, along with his siblings in the 1970s, transformed Commander's Palace “into the definitive modern Creole restaurant of its generation.”
The Brennan Fami ...
Coby G. Brooks
Coby Garrett Brooks (born May 17, 1969) is the former president and CEO of Hooters, Inc. and Naturally Fresh, Inc. Brooks was promoted to these positions in 2003, three years before the death of his father, Hooters founder Robert H. Brooks.
Af ...
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...
Jim Bunch
Jim Bunch (born March 10, 1956) is a former American football player and businessman. He played offensive guard for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide from 1976 through 1979 and was a member of the 1978 and 1979 national championship teams ...
Ernie Byfield
Ernest Lessing "Ernie" Byfield (November 3, 1889 – 10 February 1950) was a hotelier and restaurateur from the 1930s through the 1950s in Chicago, Illinois. Byfield operated the Hotel Sherman Co., including the Ambassador East and West, the Sher ...
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Alex Cable
Alex Cable is an American optical engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. He is the founder of optical equipment manufacturer Thorlabs.
Early life and education
Cable was born in Chester Borough, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Freehold Townshi ...
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Karyn Calabrese
Karyn Calabrese (born April 20, 1947) is an American raw foodist and restaurateur. Her first restaurant, Karyn's Raw Bistro, is the longest-standing gourmet raw food restaurant in the United States.
Early life
Calabrese grew up in Hyde Park, ...
S. Truett Cathy
Samuel Truett Cathy (March 14, 1921 September 8, 2014) was an American businessman, investor, author, and philanthropist. He founded the fast food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A in 1946.
Early life
Cathy was born on March 14, 1921, in Eatonto ...
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David Chang
David Chang (Korean: ; born August 5, 1977) is an American restaurateur, author, podcaster, and television personality. He is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group. In 2009, Momofuku Ko was awarded two Michelin stars, which the restaura ...
Leah Chase
Leyah (Leah) Chase (née Lange; January 6, 1923 – June 1, 2019) was an American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-American art an ...
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Chris Chelios
Christos Kostas Chelios (born January 25, 1962) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was one of the longest tenured players in the National Hockey League, and is a three-time Stanley Cup champion—one with the Montreal ...
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Cecilia Chiang
Cecilia Sun Yun Chiang (; September 18, 1920October 28, 2020) was a Chinese-American restaurateur and chef, best known for founding and managing the Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco, California.
Early life
Chiang was born as Sun Yun in Wuxi ...
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Leeann Chin
Leeann Chin is a Bloomington, Minnesota-based Asian quick service restaurant chain, with over 50 locations throughout the Midwest, mostly in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. The chain was founded by its namesake, Leeann Chin, and funded by Ca ...
Jeffrey Chodorow
Jeffrey R. Chodorow (born March 2, 1950) is an American actor restaurateur, lawyer and financier.
Early life and education
Jeffrey Chodorow was born in the Bronx, but his father died the year he was born, so he and his mother moved to Miami, ...
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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 ' ...
Ruby Chow
Ruby Chow (June 6, 1920 – June 4, 2008; ) was a Chinese American restaurateur and politician in Seattle, Washington.
Early life
On June 6, 1920 Chow was born on a fishing dock in Seattle, Washington. Her given name was Mar Seung-gum. Chow's ...
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Sam Choy
Sam Choy Sr. is an American chef, restaurateur, and television personality known as a founding contributor of Pacific Rim cuisine.
Biography
Choy is the son of a Chinese father, Hung Sam Choy, and a German–Hawaiian mother, Clairemoana. H ...
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...
Clifford Clinton
Clifford E. Clinton (August 3, 1900 – November 20, 1969) was a California restaurateur who founded Meals for Millions, one of two parent organizations of Freedom from Hunger, in 1946.
In 1905, Clifford Clinton traveled to China (for the fi ...
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Tyson Cole
Tyson Cole (born September 3, 1970) is a chef and restaurateur based in Austin, Texas, USA.
Biography
Cole had begun his culinary career as a dishwasher at a Japanese restaurant named Kyoto in downtown Austin, Texas. Attrition among the rest ...
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Tom Colicchio
Thomas Patrick Colicchio (; born August 15, 1962) is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Crafted Hospitality, whic ...
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Sean Combs
Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...
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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
Conan ...
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Al Copeland
Alvin Charles Copeland (February 2, 1944 – March 23, 2008) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Popeyes fast food chain. He was also a successful restaurateur who created many successful upscale restaurants.
Personal life
Born in New O ...
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Michael Cordúa
Michael Cordúa (born 1961) is a Nicaraguan-born American restaurateur, entrepreneur, former owner of Cordúa Restaurants, and award-winning self-taught chef. Cordúa is the former owner of six restaurants in the Houston, Texas area. He was the ...
Ingrid Croce
Ingrid Croce ( née Jacobson, born April 27, 1947) is an American author, singer-songwriter and restaurateur. She is the widow of the singer-songwriter Jim Croce and the mother of the singer-songwriter A.J. Croce. Between 1964 and 1971, Ingrid ...
Bobby Deen
Robert Earl Deen (born April 28, 1970) is an American television chef, TV personality, and restaurant manager.
He is the second son of Paula Deen and with his brother Jamie, operates her restaurant The Lady & Sons, in Savannah, Georgia. He al ...
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Paula Deen
Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen's Creek House with her sons, Jamie ...
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Tom Dempsey
Thomas John Dempsey (January 12, 1947April 4, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Oilers and ...
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Grant DePorter
Grant M. DePorter (born November 7, 1964) is a restaurateur from Chicago, U.S., who came to prominence in after he paid US$113,824.16 for a baseball which had played a role in the Chicago Cubs defeat in the 2003 National League Championship Series ...
Traci Des Jardins
Traci Des Jardins is an American chef and restaurateur who previously owned Jardinière, a French influenced California fine-dining restaurant in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, California. She is also chef and partner of ''Publ ...
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Mark DeSaulnier
Mark James DeSaulnier ( ; born March 31, 1952) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for California's 11th congressional district since 2015. The district includes most of Contra Costa County, a suburban county ...
Steve DiFillippo
Steve DiFillippo is a restaurateur and owner of the Davio’s restaurant group located in Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Foxborough and the Avila’s restaurant in Boston. He is also the creator of a retail product line of spring rolls under the ...
Rocco DiSpirito
Rocco DiSpirito (born November 19, 1966) is an American chef and reality television personality based in New York City, known for starring in the program '' The Restaurant''.
Early life and education
DiSpirito was born in Queens, New York. He gr ...
Josh Duhamel
Joshua David Duhamel (; born November 14, 1972) is an American actor and former fashion model. After various modeling work, he made his acting debut as Leo du Pres on the ABC daytime soap opera '' All My Children'' and later starred as Danny M ...
E-40
Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, ...
Steve Ells
Steve Ells (born September 12, 1966) is an American businessman. He is the founder, former CEO, and former Executive Chairman of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Ells founded Chipotle in 1992, and under his direction, the chain serves what it describes as ...
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Todd English
William Todd English (born August 29, 1960) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality, based in Boston, Massachusetts. He hosted the TV cooking show, ''Food Trip with Todd English,'' on PBS. In 2005 he was ...
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Friedman Paul Erhardt
Friedman Paul Erhardt (November 5, 1943 – October 26, 2007) was a German American pioneering early television chef. He was known as "Chef Tell" to his 40 million fans. He is widely regarded as one of the first chefs to enjoy widespread popular ...
Tiffani Faison
Tiffani Faison is an American celebrity chef and restaurateur. She is based in Boston, has served as a judge on Food Network's television series Chopped, and is a four-time James Beard Award Finalist for Best Chef: Northeast (2018, 2019, 2020, ...
Guy Fieri
Guy Ramsay Fieri (, ; ''né'' Ferry; born January 22, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter. He co-owns three restaurants in California, licenses his name to restaurants in New York City, Las ...
Paul Fleming Paul Fleming may refer to:
* Paul Fleming (footballer) (born 1967), English professional footballer
*Paul Fleming (poet) (1609–1640), German poet
*Paul Fleming (boxer) (born 1988), Australian Olympic boxer
*Paul Fleming (restaurateur), American r ...
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John Folse
John David Folse (born July 9, 1946) is an American chef, restaurant owner, and television host. A lifelong resident of Louisiana, he is seen as a leading authority on Cajun and Creole cuisine and culture.
Early life
Folse was born on July 9, 19 ...
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Benson Fong
Benson Fong ( Chinese: ; October 10, 1916 – August 1, 1987) was an American character actor.
Born in Sacramento, California, Fong was from a mercantile family of Chinese extraction. After graduating from high school in Sacramento, he studied ...
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Lee Tung Foo
Lee Tung Foo (also known as Frank Lee) was a Chinese American Vaudeville performer born in California who performed in English, German, and Latin.
Jean Galatoire Jean Galatoire was born in a small village near Pau, France. Galatoire immigrated to America in 1880 where he bought an inn and a restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1896 he moved to New Orleans and opened up a café.
In 1905 Jean Galatoire boug ...
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Helen Gallagher
Helen Gallagher (born July 19, 1926) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.
Early years
Born in Brooklyn, she was raised in Scarsdale, New York, and the ...
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Joe Gannon
Joe Gannon is a Philadelphia native, recording producer, director, musical stage lighting and production designer. Gannon's career began as road manager for the Kingston Trio in the band's early days of its greatest success. He later operated and ...
Glenn Goodart
Ira Glenn Goodart (August 5, 1885 – November 8, 1948) was an American railroad conductor, hotel manager, county commissioner and county treasurer. Goodart was raised in Friendsville, Illinois, a small community outside of Mount Carmel, I ...
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Frank Gordy
Walter Frank Gordy (born 9 February 1904, Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia, USA; died 18 June 1983) was the founder of The Varsity chain of restaurants, which includes the world's largest drive-in restaurant on North Avenue near Georgia Tech i ...
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Harold Greiner
Harold Greiner (July 7, 1907 – July 17, 1993) was a restaurant entrepreneur, baseball manager and softball coach.
Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Greiner was the owner of Bob Inn Restaurant and Bakery. He also coached softball for ten years and ...
Pete Harman
Leon Weston "Pete" Harman (January 16, 1919 – November 19, 2014) was an American businessman best known for having struck a deal with Colonel Harland Sanders to open the first KFC franchise. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, Harman's location o ...
Irene Hayes
Irene Hayes (1896 – September 16, 1975) was a Ziegfeld girl and businesswoman who owned Irene Hayes Wadley & Smythe, a leading Manhattan florist, and Gallagher's Steak House after the death of her husband, Jack Solomon.
She bought the ...
John Hickenlooper
John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (; born February 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 20 ...
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Henry Hill
Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testi ...
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Charles T. Hinde
Charles T. Hinde (July 12, 1832 – March 10, 1915) was an American industrialist, tycoon, riverboat captain, businessman, and entrepreneur. He managed many businesses and invested in numerous business ventures over the course of his life. ...
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Ted Hinton
Ted Cass Hinton (October 5, 1904 – October 27, 1977) was a Dallas County, Texas, deputy sheriff, the youngest of the posse that ambushed and killed Bonnie and Clyde near Gibsland, Louisiana, on May 23, 1934.
History
Hinton, then aged ...
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Tanya Holland
Tanya Holland (born July 14, 1965) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, podcast host, writer, and cookbook author. She is known as an expert of soul food. Holland is an alumna of Bravo TV's ''Top Chef'', where she competed on the Top Che ...
Eddie Huang
Edwyn Charles Huang (born March 1, 1982) is an American author, chef, restaurateur, food personality, producer, and former attorney. He was a co-owner of BaoHaus, a gua bao restaurant in the East Village of Lower Manhattan. Huang previously ...
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Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
Andrew Jarvis
Andrew Harry Jarvis (born ''Andreas Harry Giavis''; April 7, 1890 – February 22, 1990) was a Greek-American politician and businessman from New Hampshire.
Biography
Early life
Andrew Harry Jarvis (born Andreas Harry Giavis) was born in Ma ...
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Doron Jensen
Doron Richard Jensen (born September 1, 1958) is an American restaurateur who was the principal founder of Timber Lodge Steakhouse, Homestyle Buffet, and Old Country Buffet.
Early life
Doron Richard Jensen was born in Dubuque, Iowa, to pastors ...
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Howard Deering Johnson
Howard Deering Johnson (February 2, 1897 – June 20, 1972) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, and the founder of an American chain of restaurants and motels under one company of the same name, Howard Johnson's.
Early life
Howard Joh ...
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Jean Joho
Jean Joho is a French-American chef and restaurateur. He was chef and proprietor of ''Everest'' in Chicago (founded in 1986, closed 2020), Paris Club Bistro & Bar and Studio Paris in Chicago, The Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Las Vegas, and Brasser ...
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Peter Jubeck
Peter G. "Pete" Jubeck (February 9, 1936–May 12, 2003) was a Czech-American businessman who founded, with partner Robert Swartz, the restaurants Sir Pizza of Michigan and Clara's Lansing Station, both in Lansing, Michigan, and with partner ...
Elaine Kaufman
Elaine Edna Kaufman (February 10, 1929 – December 3, 2010) was a restaurateur whose Manhattan restaurant, Elaine's, attracted a following among prominent actors, writers, and other celebrities.
Life and career
Kaufman was born in Manhattan, ...
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Anne Kearney
Anne Kearney is an American chef and restaurateur. In 2002 she won a James Beard Foundation award as "Southeast Regional Best Chef".
With a background at Bistro at the Maison de Ville and Peristyle with John Neal and as line cook and culinary as ...
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Jim Keet
James Holland Keet (born May 12, 1949), is an American restaurateur and politician in Little Rock, Arkansas, and a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate. Keet was the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansa ...
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Thomas Keller
Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foun ...
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Matthew Kenney
Matthew Kenney is an American celebrity chef, entrepreneur, author, and educator specializing in plant-based cuisine. He is the author of 12 cookbooks, founder of dozens of vegan restaurants, and founder of the companies Matthew Kenney Cuisine a ...
Ray Kroc
Raymond Albert Kroc (October 5, 1902 – January 14, 1984) was an American businessman. He purchased the fast food company McDonald's in 1961 and was its CEO from 1967 to 1973. Kroc is credited with the global expansion of McDonald's, turnin ...
Ashton Kutcher
Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a ...
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Nancy Kwan
Nancy Kwan Ka-shen (; born May 19, 1939) is a Chinese-American actress, philanthropist, and former dancer. In addition to her personality and looks, her career was benefited by Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in ...
Nicholas Lambrinides
Nicholas Lambrinides (1879–1962) was a Greek-American entrepreneur who built the Skyline Chili chain of chili restaurants based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Early life
Lambrinides was born a Greek in Kastoria, then part of the Ottoman Empire, now in Gr ...
Paul Liebrandt
Paul Liebrandt is a chef and restaurateur. He was the co-owner of Corton restaurant in New York City and the subject of the documentary film, ''A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt''. Liebrandt is known for his daring cuisine, creativit ...
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Bruce Littlefield
Bruce Littlefield is an American author, businessman, actor, model, and TV contributor. He is the regarded as an American "lifestyle authority". He has been called a "Modern Day Erma Bombeck", a "Garage Sale Guru", the "Flea Market King" and is ...
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytim ...
Lester Maddox
Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 75th governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregatio ...
George Mardikian
George Magar Mardikian (November 7, 1903 – October 23, 1977) was an Armenian Americans, Armenian-born American restaurateur, chef, author and philanthropist. In 1938, he opened Omar Khayyam's restaurant in San Francisco, California, which wa ...
Tony Maws
Tony Maws (born 1970) is an American chef and restaurateur. Maws is the chef/owner of Craigie on Main (formerly called Craigie Street Bistrot) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Early years
Raised in Newton, Massachusetts, Tony Maws attended the Belmo ...
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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 ...
Brian McMenamin
Brian McMenamin (born 1957) is an American businessman in the state of Oregon. A native of the state, he and his older brother Mike McMenamin founded the McMenamins restaurant and brewpub chain in 1983. He serves as general manager and vice-pres ...
Rich Melman
Rich Melman (born 1942) is an American businessman, and the founder and chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a privately held restaurant company with more than 100 venues."Let Us Now Praise R.J. Grunts: How Rich Melman and his Lettuce ...
Julie Menin
Julie Menin (born October 6, 1967) is a member of the New York City Council from District 5. Before she was elected to this position, she served as an American attorney, civil servant, non-profit executive, professor and small business owner. ...
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Danny Meyer
Daniel Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the Founder & Executive Chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG).
Background and early career
Meyer was born and raised in a reform Jewish family in St. Louis, ...
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Mary Sue Milliken
Mary Sue Milliken is an American chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and radio and TV personality with a focus on Latin cuisine in the United States.
Early life and education
Milliken is a graduate of Chicago's Washburne Culinary & Hospitality ...
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Michael Mina
Michael Mina ( ar, مايكل مينا; born 1969) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He is the founder of the Mina Group, a restaurant management company operating over 40 restaurants worldwide. He is the exec ...
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Arnie Morton
Arnold Morton (1922 – May 28, 2005) was a restaurateur who founded Morton's Restaurant Group/Morton's Steakhouse.
Early life
Arnie Morton was born in Chicago, the son of Mort and Isabel Morton. He grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood on th ...
John Mosca
John Mosca (pronounced "Mohsca") (May 6, 1925 Chicago Heights, Illinois – July 13, 2011, Harahan, Louisiana) was an American restaurateur and owner (and co-founder) of the famed Mosca's, a Louisiana Creole cuisine, Louisiana Creole and Italian cu ...
Kimbal Musk
Kimbal Reeve Musk (born 20 September 1972) is a South African restaurateur, chef, and entrepreneur. He owns The Kitchen Restaurant Group, a collection of "community" restaurants located in Colorado, Chicago, and Indianapolis. He is the co-fo ...
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...
Greg Norton
Gregory James Norton (born March 13, 1959) is an American musician, formerly of the band Hüsker Dü.
Early life
Norton was born in Davenport, Iowa, as this was the most local Catholic hospital to his family’s home in Rock Island, Illinois. He ...
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John Nygren
John Nygren (born February 27, 1964) is an American insurance and financial services agent, politician, and lobbyist. A Republican, he was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for nearly 14 years, serving from January 2007 to December 2020. ...
Suze Orman
Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman ( ; born June 5, 1951) is an American financial advisor, author, and podcast host. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her work as a financial advisor gained notability with ''The Suze Orman Show'', which ...
Frank Palumbo
Frank Palumbo (May 23, 1911 – February 12, 1983) was an American power broker, political boss, entrepreneur and racketeer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He is best known as the owner of Palumbo's, an entertainment complex in South Philadelphia ...
Cindy Pawlcyn
Cynthia Pawlcyn (born Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American chef and cookbook author known for the restaurants she opened in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Napa Valley between 1983 and 2008. Pawlcyn was an early advocate for using local, su ...
Mark Peel (chef)
Mark Peel (November 19, 1954 – June 20, 2021) was an American chef and restaurateur in California. Campanile, a restaurant owned by Peel and his former wife Nancy Silverton, won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2001. Peel specialized in Califor ...
Harold Pierce
Harold P. Pierce (August 11, 1917 – March 8, 1988) was an African-American entrepreneur who founded the successful Harold's Chicken Shack restaurant chain in Chicago, Illinois.
Pierce was born in Midway, Alabama, and moved to Chicago in 194 ...
Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born July 8, 1949) is an Austrian-American chef and restaurateur.
Early life and career
Puck was born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He learned cooking from his mother, who was a pastry chef. He took the surname ...
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Jay Ramras
Jay B. Ramras (born July 31, 1964) is an American businessman and politician. Ramras was a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, being elected to the 10th District in 2004, and served three terms. He served as Chair of the E ...
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Bill Rancic
William Rancic (; born May 16, 1971) is an American entrepreneur who was the first candidate hired by The Trump Organization at the conclusion of the first season of Donald Trump's reality television show ''The Apprentice''. He is married to E! ...
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Giuliana Rancic
Giuliana Rancic (; ; born August 17, 1974) is an Italian-American entertainment reporter and television personality. She is a co-anchor of ''E! News'' and resides in Chicago and Los Angeles.
Early life
Rancic was born in Naples, Italy and immigra ...
Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program '' Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series ''30 Minute Meals'' ...
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Mason Reese
Mason Reese is an American former child actor and restaurant entrepreneur who appeared in numerous television commercials in the 1970s, including Underwood Deviled Ham, Ivory Snow, Dunkin' Donuts, and Post Raisin Bran.
Early life and acting car ...
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Tony Rezko
Antoin Rezko (born 1955) is an American businessman and convict. He was a fundraiser for Illinois Democratic and Republican politicians. After becoming a major contributor to Rod Blagojevich's successful election for governor, Rezko assisted Bla ...
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Pascal Rigo
Pascal Rigo is a French Restaurateur who owns a small "empire" of boulangeries, restaurants, and wholesale and retail bakeries in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California, that operate as La Boulangerie de San Francisco, Bay Bread, La Boulange ...
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Jilly Rizzo
Ermenegildo "Jilly" Rizzo (May 6, 1917 – May 6, 1992) was an American restaurateur and entertainer.
Career
As a young man, Rizzo worked with his father delivering Italian ice to cafes. Rizzo opened Jilly's Saloon, a lounge on West 49th Stree ...
Nate Robinson
Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson (born May 31, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Seattle, Robinson played college basketball for the University of Washington in Seattle and was the 21st pick in the 2005 NBA draft. ...
Michael Romanoff
Harry F. Gerguson (born Hershel Geguzin, February 20, 1890 – September 1, 1971), known as Michael Romanoff, was a Hollywood restaurateur, con man and actor born in Lithuania. He is perhaps best remembered as the owner of the now-defunct Romanof ...
Marcus Samuelsson
25 January 1971) is an Ethiopian-born Swedish-American celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is the head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.
Early life and education
Kassahun Joar Tsegie was born in Ethiopia. His fa ...
Colonel Sanders
Colonel Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890
December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand amba ...
Bobby Schilling
Robert Todd Schilling (January 23, 1964 – April 6, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a U.S. Representative for from 2011 to 2013. Schilling was a member of the Republican Party. Schilling challenged incumbent Dem ...
Alex Schoenbaum
Alex Schoenbaum (August 8, 1915 – December 6, 1996) was an American collegiate football player and businessman in the hospitality industry, eventually operating a chain of restaurants and later, motels. He is best remembered for developing t ...
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John Schnatter
John Hampton "Papa John" Schnatter (born November 22 or 23, 1961) is an American entrepreneur who founded the Papa John's pizza restaurant chain in 1984. Schnatter started the business in the back of his father's tavern after selling his car and ...
Patrick Schwarzenegger
Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 18, 1993) is an American model, actor, investor, and entrepreneur. He is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver.
Early life and family
Schwarzenegger was born at Providence St ...
Larry Sconyers Larry E. Sconyers (born 1941) was the first Mayor of the consolidated government for Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia. He is also the owner of Sconyers Bar-B-Que, a top 10 restaurant in its class according to ''People'' magazine. The restaurant w ...
Ike Sewell
Issac Sewell (September 9, 1903 – August 20, 1990) was an American athlete, businessman, entrepreneur, and founder of the Uno Chicago Grill restaurant chain that originated in Chicago, Illinois, as well as founder of the Pizzeria Uno and Pi ...
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Andy Shallal
Anas "Andy" Shallal ( ar, أنس شلال) (born March 21, 1955) is an Iraqi-American artist, activist, philanthropist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and CEO of the Washington, D.C., area, restaurant, bookstore, and performan ...
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Louis Sherry
Louis Sherry (1855 in St. Albans, Vermont – 1926) was an American restaurateur, caterer, confectioner and hotelier during the Gilded Age and early 20th century. His name is typically associated with an upscale brand of candy and ice cream, and ...
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Lydia Shire
Lydia Shire (born 1948) is a Boston-based chef and restaurateur.
Early life and education
Born in Connecticut and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts, both of her parents were illustrators. Shire began cooking as early as age four alongside her ...
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Toots Shor
Bernard "Toots" Shor (May 6, 1903 – January 23, 1977) was best known as the proprietor of a legendary saloon and restaurant, Toots Shor's Restaurant, in Manhattan. He ran three establishments under that name, but his first – and most ren ...
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Nancy Silverton
Nancy Silverton (born June 20, 1954) is an American chef, baker, and author. The winner of the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef Award in 2014, Silverton is recognized for her role in popularizing sourdough and artisan breads in the Un ...
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Richard Simmons
Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons (born July 12, 1948) is an American fitness personality and public figure, known for his eccentric, flamboyant, and energetic personality. He has promoted weight-loss programs, most prominently through his ''Swe ...
Jack Solomon (Gallagher's Steakhouse)
Jack Solomon (March 8, 1913 – November 8, 2002) was an American sound engineer. He won an Oscar for Sound Recording and was nominated for five more in the same category. He worked on over 90 films between 1953 and 1991.
Selected filmograp ...
Frank Stephenson
Frank Stephenson (; born 3 October 1959) is a Moroccan-born American automobile designer who has worked for Ford, BMW, Mini, Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, and McLaren.
Motor Trend magazine has called him "one of the most infl ...
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence.
Pos ...
Michael Symon
Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is of Greek, Sicilian, and Eastern European descent. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as ''Iron Chef America' ...
T
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Jon Taffer
Jonathan Peter Taffer (born November 7, 1954) is an American entrepreneur and television personality. He is best known for hosting the reality series ''Bar Rescue'' on Paramount Network and '' Face the Truth'' on CBS with Vivica A. Fox. He is als ...
Joe Theismann
Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canad ...
Jet Tila
Jet Tilakamonkul, known professionally as Jet Tila ( th, เจ็ท ติลกมลกุล; ), is an American celebrity chef, author, restaurateur, and restaurant developer.
Early life
Tila was born in Los Angeles to Thai Chinese parents ...
Charlie Trotter
Charles Trotter (September 8, 1959 – November 5, 2013) was an American chef and 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 ...
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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 P ...
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Ming Tsai
Ming Hao Tsai (; born March 29, 1964) is an American restaurateur, television personality, and celebrity chef. Tsai's restaurants have focused on east–west fusion cuisine, and have included major stakes in Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachuse ...
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Tom Tunney
Thomas M. Tunney (born August 22, 1955) is an American politician and entrepreneur from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2003, he has served as an alderman on the Chicago City Council. He represents the prominent 44th Ward of the city, which includes ma ...
Richard Valle
Richard D. Valle (May 2, 1931 – July 8, 1995) was an American restaurateur who owned and managed the Valle's Steak House chain of restaurants from the death of his father in 1977 to when he sold his controlling shares of the company to a private ...
Michael Walrath
Michael Walrath (born April 17, 1975) is a serial investor, advisor and founder of startup and expansion stage companies. He has expertise in auction marketplaces, consumer Internet and digital media, fundraising, corporate management, and merger ...
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Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...
Charles Weeghman
Charles Henry Weeghman (March 8, 1874 – November 1, 1938) was a German American restaurant entrepreneur and sports executive. Beginning in 1901, he began opening quick-service lunch counters throughout downtown Chicago. After failing to acquire ...
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
Robert Wiedmaier
Robert Wiedmaier is a West German-born, Belgian American chef. He owns multiple restaurants in and around Washington, D.C. and is known for creating dishes involving Belgian cuisine, specifically mussels.
Personal life
Robert Wiedmaier was b ...
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Jody Williams
Jody Williams (born October 9, 1950) is an American political activist known for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defense of human rights (especially those of women), and her efforts to promote new understandings of security i ...
Brad Womack
Stephen Bradley Womack (born November 10, 1972) is an American entrepreneur, bar owner, and television personality best known for appearing twice as The Bachelor on the reality show ''The Bachelor (American TV series), The Bachelor''.
Re ...
Lovie Yancey
Lovie Yancey (January 3, 1912 – January 26, 2008), born in Bastrop, Texas, was the African-American founder of the Fatburger restaurant chain.
Founding of Fatburger
She originally owned a small restaurant in Tucson. In 1947, she founded Fa ...
Geoffrey Zakarian
Geoffrey Zakarian (born July 25, 1959) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality and author. He is the executive chef of several restaurants in New York City, Atlantic City and Miami. Gillespie, Nick and Amanda Winkler (2013- ...
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Duke Zeibert David George "Duke" Zeibert (1910 – August 15, 1997) was, for 44 years, the proprietor of a restaurant in Washington, D.C. that was frequented by Presidents, senators, lawyers, lobbyists, quarterbacks, coaches, and columnists. Every President from ...
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Frederick Hinde Zimmerman
Frederick Hinde Zimmerman (October 17, 1864 – September 21, 1924) was an American banker, farmer, real estate entrepreneur, businessman, and hotel owner. Due to his large land holdings and expertise in farming, Zimmerman became a notable farme ...
List of Michelin 3-star restaurants in the United States
This article contains a complete list of Michelin 3-star restaurants in the United States. Michelin stars are a rating system used by the red Michelin Guide to grade restaurants on their quality. The guide was originally developed in 1900 to s ...
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Lists of Americans
Lists of Americans are lists of people from the United States. They are grouped by various criteria, including ethnicity, religion, state, city, occupation and educational affiliation.
By ethnicity or place of origin
* Afghan Americans
* Afri ...
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:American restaurateurs
Restaurateurs
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 ...
Restaurateurs
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 ...