Sara Foster 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 ...

and

cookbook author A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cou ...

in Durham,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. She is the founder and owner of the gourmet cafe and market Foster's Market, which opened in Durham in 1990. She is the author of four cookbooks, and has appeared in many national magazines. She has been a frequent guest on '' The Today Show'' and ''

Martha Stewart Living ''Martha Stewart Living'' is a magazine and former 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 ...

'' since 1995. Foster is known for her use of fresh vegetables and herbs in southern food and for her long history of advocating for the use of locally grown produce in her restaurants and in home cooking.

Early career

One of Foster's first jobs was assisting a French chef at the 1980 Olympics. She subsequently worked as a part-time chef at SoHo Charcuterie, a New American cuisine restaurant, and in the catering kitchen of Ronnie Davis of Washington Street, both 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 ...

. After graduating from New York Restaurant School in 1981, Foster worked alongside

Martha Stewart Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pub ...

as a chef for her catering company. Foster subsequently opened a catering business of her own in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

Foster's Market

Sara Foster opened Foster's Market in Durham, North Carolina in 1990, at the site of a former lawn mower repair shop. It was one of the first businesses in the region to offer prepared foods that featured local produce, specialty grocery items, locally roasted coffee and select wines. It also featured a bakery and full service catering. In its early days, the market existed primarily as a take-out shop. Over the years, customer demand for eat-in options resulted in the addition of tables both indoors and outdoors. A second location opened in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

in 1998. This location was sold to acting general manager Sera Cuni in 2013 and now operates under the name of "The Root Cellar".

Cookbooks

Foster's first cookbook, ''The Foster's Market Cookbook Recipes for Morning, Noon and Night'' won the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Book Award in 2003, an award which recognizes booksellers' favorite books of the year. Her second cookbook, ''Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes from Foster’s Market'', was released in May 2005 and reached the Top 10 on

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''' bestseller list. In March 2007, she released ''Sara Foster's Casual Cooking: Simple Fresh Recipes for the Way We Eat Today''. ''Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen'' released in April 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Sara Living people American women chefs American women writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women American cookbook writers Chefs from North Carolina