Susan Feniger is an American chef,

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 ...

, cookbook author, and radio and

TV personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. She is known for starring in the

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Ty ...

''Too Hot Tamales'' on the

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 ...

and opening several influential restaurants in Los Angeles. She has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the California Restaurant Association.

Career

Restaurants

After working together in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

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 ...

, Feniger and her longtime collaborator,

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 ...

, settled in Los Angeles where they founded City Cafe in 1981. They eventually expanded to a larger space on La Brea Blvd. and renamed the establishment City Restaurant. In 1985, they opened the Mexican restaurant Border Grill in the original City Cafe space, before moving it to Santa Monica in 1990. The restaurant later expanded to Pasadena (closed) and the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Broadening their culinary horizons Feniger and her partner opened the Latin flavor restaurant Ciudad (now a Border Grill) in Los Angeles in 1998. The success of the three restaurants led Feniger and Milliken to be recognized for changing Los Angeles's culinary landscape. Feniger has been influenced by the food and culture of various nations, such as India, France, and Mexico. In April 2009, Feniger opened her first solo project: Street, a multi-ethnic eatery of "street food" in Hollywood. Sample dishes included millet puffs, paani puri, Massaman chicken curry, dumplings, Egyptian-style baked fish and peanut butter cookies for dessert. Street closed in November 2013. In December 2013, Feniger, with Executive Chef and Partner Kajsa Alger, opened Mud Hen Tavern at the former location of Street. A neighborhood bar and restaurant, it offered seasonal, gourmet pub and comfort food in a warm and relaxed setting. The bar team in partnership with mixology consultant Tricia Carr (formerly Alley), curated a beverage program that offered a vibrant and accessible selection of international wines, local craft beers and artisanal cocktails to complement Mud Hen Tavern's cuisine. Mud Hen Tavern closed on October 11, 2016.

Publishing, television, and film

In collaboration with Milliken and others, Feniger has published five cookbooks: ''City Cuisine'' (1989), ''Mesa Mexicana'' (1994), ''Cantina: The Best of Casual Mexican Cooking'' (Casual Cuisines of the World) (1996), ''Cooking with Too Hot Tamales'' (1997) and ''Mexican Cooking for Dummies'' (1999/2002). Feniger is also a TV personality, starring with Milliken in 396 episodes of the popular '' Too Hot Tamales'' and '' Tamales World Tour'' on the

in the 1990s. Prior to the shows on the Food Network, in 1993 Feniger and Milliken appeared with

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

in her PBS series ''Cooking with Master Chefs''. Feniger has also appeared on ''

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...

'' and prepared with Milliken the food that was served in the 2001 movie, ''

Tortilla Soup Tortilla soup ( es, sopa de tortilla) is a traditional Mexican soup made of fried corn tortilla pieces, submerged into a broth of tomato, garlic, onion, and ''chile de árbol'' and epazote. It is served with pieces of pasilla chiles, chicharr� ...

''. Most recently, Feniger appeared on the second season of

Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef''. In the series, chefs A chef is a trained profes ...

that aired in 2010. She was the last female chef in the competition, eliminated following a challenge to create a dish fit for the gods. Feniger's creation for Aphrodite was Kaya toast served with a soy-glazed egg and coconut jam. She raised $32,500 for The

Scleroderma Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas of ...

Research Foundation. "It's an honor to be on that show and have Schleroderma icResearch Foundation out there in the public eye," she said in an interview with SlashFood. "I've gotten so many email messages and Facebook messages from all over the country. So for me, I'm totally the winner in this." In 2011,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

bought the rights to develop a sitcom based on the lives of Feniger and Milliken, but it never aired. In April 2013, she appeared as herself in the ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

'' episode "The Maiden in the Mushrooms". In October 2014, Feniger appeared as a contestant in the "Superstar Sabotage" tournament of ''

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 ...

''. She also appeared as a guest judge in Episode 15 of Hell's Kitchen (Season 19) which was aired in April 2021.

Awards

In 2013, Feniger was awarded the Elizabeth Burns Lifetime Achievement Award by the California Restaurant Association. She was the co-recipient of the 2018 Julia Child Award from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts.

Personal life

Feniger is from Toledo, Ohio, and is the daughter of Ruth Alice and Yale Feniger. She was raised in a Jewish home. Feniger graduated from

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. One of the Claremont Colleges, the college has a curricular emphasis on the social sciences, behavioral sciences, international programs, and media studies. Pitzer is k ...

in 1976. She was a founding board member of the

Scleroderma Research Foundation The Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF) is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that funds research into scleroderma. The SRF also funds and supports Scleroderma Centers of Excellence, including the Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (M ...

and has served on the organization's board since 1988. Feniger also serves on the board of the

Los Angeles LGBT Center The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, soc ...

. She identifies as lesbian and her partner is Liz Lachman. Feniger's ex-husband, Josh Schweitzer, is married to her business partner

. Her nephew is actor

Ben Feldman Ben Feldman (born May 27, 1980) is an American actor and producer. Throughout his career, Feldman has undertaken roles on stage, including the Broadway play ''The Graduate'' along with more prominent roles in television series such as his role ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feniger, Susan American chefs American Jews Lesbian entertainers LGBT Jews LGBT people from Ohio American LGBT rights activists Living people Writers from Toledo, Ohio Pitzer College alumni American women chefs American restaurateurs Women restaurateurs Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women LGBT chefs