Viewing the kitchen as both a culinary and spiritual haven, New Delhi-born Top Chef Master Suvir Saran has nurtured a lifelong passion for the traditional flavors of Indian cooking, which has led him to become an accomplished chef, cookbook author, educator, and organic farmer. Saran’s approachable and informed style has helped to demystify Indian cuisine in America and ultimately formed American Masala, his culinary philosophy, which celebrates the best of Indian and American cooking. A respected culinary authority, Saran is Chairman of Asian Culinary Studies for the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and travels extensively to teach audiences ranging from home cooks and fellow chefs to physicians and nutritionists. He has been a featured speaker and guest chef for notable gatherings such as the Healthy Kitchens, Food Network’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival, the New York City Wine & Food Festival, and many others. Saran has also led classes for culinary centers and schools nationwide.Renowned for his accessible approach to Indian flavors and techniques, Saran has penned three cookbooks: Indian Home Cooking: A Fresh Introduction to Indian Food, with More Than 150 Recipes (Clarkson Potter, 2004) with Stephanie Lyness; American Masala: 125 New Classics from My Home Kitchen (Clarkson Potter, 2007) with Raquel Pelzel; and Masala Farm: Stories and Recipes from an Uncommon Life in the Country (Chronicle Books, 2011) with Charlie Burd and Raquel Pelzel. Masala Farm was a James Beard Award finalist for Best American Cookbook for 2011. His recipes have been featured in publications such as Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Departures, InStyle, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, as well as many others. He is a contributor to Food Arts magazine. He has been a featured judge on Next Iron Chefand Iron Chef on the Food Network and has had numerous appearances on national and local broadcasts. In spring 2011, Suvir was a break out star on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, cooking to raise money for the Agricultural Stewardship Association. Most recently, Saran was Executive Chef/Owner at Devi in New York City, where he shared the authentic flavors of Indian home cooking with guests. Under Saran’s leadership, Devi consistently received popular and critical acclaim and earned a three-star rating from New York magazine and two stars from the New York Times. It was the first Indian restaurant in the U.S. to earn a Michelin star. When he is not on the road, Saran joins partner Charlie Burd in caring for American Masala Farm, a nineteenth-century farm set on sixty-eight acres of rolling land in upstate New York and home to lovingly raised heritage-breed animals and pets, including two dogs, a cat, sheep, ducks, geese, alpacas, chickens, guinea hens, and goats. Saran and Burd are dedicated to the recommendations of the American Livestock Breed Conservancy (ALBC) in choosing the farm’s animal population and exemplify farm-to-table living by providing local restaurants with their heritage-breed eggs.Suvir's Books:American Masala (2007) Indian Home Cooking (2004) Masala Farm (2011)
Few athletes have enjoyed the artistic and popular success that figure skater Brian Boitano has achieved since winning the gold medal for the United States at the 1988 Winter Olympics Games in Calgary, Canada.
Brian’s skating is characterized by power, precision, consistency and emotion. He created and routinely performs his signature jump, the Tano Triple, so difficult it has rarely been completed by anyone else. In competitions and exhibitions, Brian continues to raise the level of skating to new heights. He was the first American male athlete to have his own network television special, Canvas of Ice, which aired worldwide and was seen nationally on the ABC Network. The critically acclaimed special won awards in the International Film and Television Festival of New York and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Brian was an Olympic alternate in 1980 and a member of the ’84, ’88 and ’94 U.S. Olympic teams. After turning professional in 1988, Brian won six world professional titles, placing first and scoring perfect 10s in each of 10 consecutive professional championships. As a professional, he won the first 20 out of the 24 competitions he entered, a record unmatched in the history of skating. He has taken a leadership role among professional skaters and his efforts have changed the face of professional skating, raising its standard beyond any level seen in the sport’s history.
Brian won a prime-time Emmy Award, television’s highest honor, for his starring role in the HBO movie Carmen on Ice. He and fellow Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt toured North America in three successful ice shows: Skating, Skating II and Skating ’92, which were broadcast on network TV. In 1994, he starred in Nutcracker on Ice with Oksana Baiul and Viktor Petrenko. For 15 years he toured with Champions On Ice around the country, headlining 25 national tours. Brian has provided expert commentary on televised skating shows for ABC, NBC and Turner networks.
Brian’s book, Boitano’s Edge: Inside the Real World of Figure Skating (Simon & Schuster, November 1997), is currently in its third printing and is considered one of the finest skating books ever published.
In 1995, Brian founded White Canvas Productions to create figure skating shows for both live and television audiences. More than 20 White Canvas specials have aired on NBC, USA Networks and TNT. Brian’s production of the Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular aired on NBC in January 2010.
Brian began his figure skating career in 1972 at the age of 8. After viewing a performance of “Ice Follies,” he traded his roller skates for ice skates and was enrolled in group lessons taught by Linda Leaver. She immediately realized his potential and suggested private lessons. Thus began a remarkable partnership that has lasted 30 years and continues to flourish with Linda also serving as Brian’s personal manager.
At 14, while still in high school, he became the U.S. Junior Men’s Champion. Brian gained world recognition when he was 19 as the first skater to complete all six different triple jumps in a World Championship. He placed fifth in the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo and won the first of four consecutive U.S. Men’s titles in 1985.
In total, Brian, a three-time Olympian, has won more than 50 titles, including 23 international gold medals, two World titles, two Pro/AM titles, 16 professional titles, four U.S. National titles, as well as the Olympic Gold Medal. Brian has been inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the National Italian-American Hall of Fame.
He is one of the founding members of the National Safe Kids Campaign Entertainment Alliance and is also a member of the Public Awareness Council of the American Cancer Society.
In 1998, Brian founded Youth Skate, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to introduce San Francisco’s inner-city youth to the sport of ice skating. Since its inaugural year, more than 6,000 children aged 5 to 15 have participated. Now in its twelfth season, the charity continues to grow with Brian as an active participant.
With a lifelong passion for food and cooking, Brian premiered a Food Network cooking series, What Would Brian Boitano Make?, in August 2009. In the series, Brian takes viewers on a reality cooking adventure as he creates amazing food for a new event in each episode focusing on innovative but accessible dishes.
Marc Forgione competed on and won season three of The Next Iron Chef in 2010, beating out some of the country’s top chefs for the ultimate culinary title – Iron Chef. Marc began his career at the age of 16, joining his father, Larry Forgione (a culinary legend who revolutionized American-style cooking in the '70s and '80s), in the kitchen at An American Place. Marc fully embraced his father's livelihood and has built on his unique culinary foundation to carve out an identity of his own. Marc opted for a traditional four-year education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he graduated from the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. He spent his summers working the line at restaurants such as Above in New York, with acclaimed chef Kazuto Matsusaka. These stints would lay the groundwork for Marc's post-collegiate toils, again alongside his father at An American Place and later under Patricia Yeo at AZ. When Yeo and celebrated chef Pino Maffeo opened Pazo, they took Marc along to serve as sous chef at the short-lived eatery. When Laurent Tourondel set out to develop his flagship, BLT Steak, he recruited Marc as his sous chef.
In an effort to diversify his experience, Marc left for France, where he secured a series of humble posts under Michel Guerard in Eugenie les Bains. Working at three of the region's finest restaurants, Le Pres D'Eugenie, Ferme aux Grives and Le Cuisine Minceur, Marc absorbed the nuances of classic French techniques and further developed what had already become a meaningful relationship with ingredients.
When he returned to New York, Marc promptly reunited with Tourondel, who invited the now seasoned chef to serve as chef de cuisine at BLT Prime. The restaurant would go on to earn sterling accolades from relevant publications nationwide, culminating in a 27 in the Zagat Guide, making it the highest-ranking steakhouse in the history of New York City. Following his role as chef de cuisine, Marc was named corporate chef for the BLT Restaurant Group, a position that enabled him to develop recipes and maintain the quality of the BLT brand as it went on to include more restaurants across the country. Marc has played a key role in the openings of BLT Fish and BLT Market, as well as the Washington, D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Dallas locations of BLT Steak.
With Marc Forgione, formerly known as Forge, Marc’s first restaurant, he has created an approachable place "that people walk by and are compelled to enter and where the ingredients are the star." Marc was most recently coveted with his second Michelin star in the 2011 guide, making him the youngest American-born chef and owner to receive the honor in consecutive years (2010, 2011). In addition, Marc received a two-star review from Sam Sifton of The New York Times.
The restaurant also earned the distinction of being named "Key Newcomer" by Zagat Guide 2009, "Top 25 Restaurants in NYC" by Modern Luxury magazine and "All Star Eatery" by Forbes magazine. Marc was awarded "Star Chefs Rising Star of the Year Award 2010," named "Rising Star 2008" from Restaurant Hospitality magazine and mentioned "New Formalist" by Esquire magazine in 2008.
Marc currently lives in New York City.
You wouldn’t expect a six-foot-tall native Vermonter to serve as America’s premier Thai food buff. Not until Ricker rolls up his sleeves to get to work, that is: his arms are inked with a traditional clay mortar and wooden pestle, bird’s eye chiles, and stylized Thai herbs. But his dedication to the cuisine is more than just skin-deep.Sugary pad thai and chicken skewers with candy-sweet peanut sauce may have shaped America's understanding of Thai cuisine, but Andy Ricker is setting out to change all that. As the chef-owner of Pok Pok restaurants in New York City and Portland, Oregon (where he's now based), he cooks food that tastes like it's from half a world away—because it is. He's been traveling to Thailand for over twenty years to bring its true flavors Stateside. His phat thai, speckled with salted radish and redolent of sour tamarind water and palm sugar syrup, boasts a precise balance of sweet, tart, and umami-rich flavors. His kai yaang, brined whole and stuffed with aromatics, was inspired by an old friend in Chiang Mai who spent 30 years spit-roasting young chickens alongside a wall of glowing charcoal. His first visit to Thailand was simply one of many stops he made while backpacking around the world, picking up odd jobs from New Zealand to England to support his travels. But his second trip there marked a watershed moment in his culinary career. He still remembers the one dish that blew his mind: a Northern-style mushroom curry. “It was like seeing an entirely new color," he recalls in his best-selling cookbook, Pok Pok. "From then on, my eyes were open.” Ricker dedicated himself to language lessons and befriended home cooks and street vendors, talking his way into their kitchens. His flavor quests became more systematic: he’d taste something outrageous, then try versions of it everywhere he could to understand how to recreate it. At times, his love affair with Thailand made him a hard hire back in the States, because he’d return every year. Eventually, he decided it was time to open his own restaurant.Ricker’s ambassadorship of Thai cuisine has boomed into an empire over the last two decades: in addition to his Pok Pok restaurants, he’s the founder of Pok Pok Som (a drinking vinegar company) and managing partner of Pok Pok Thaan (a charcoal importing enterprise). He’s also a two-time James Beard Award-winner and best-selling cookbook author. Even after decades of traveling to Thailand, Ricker doesn’t consider himself an expert: “I'm a student like everyone else who's interested in Thai cooking," he says. "My experience with Thai cooking is concentrated heavily on northern Thai food. Central Thai is something I'm learning more about. Southern Thai is almost an entire mystery to me.” His approach to Thai flavors is nearly sociological, and his devotion to ingredients keeps his dishes very close to their source. Ricker may not consider himself an expert, but he's undeniably a chef who’s passionate about creating food that tastes like it’s straight from Thailand. In his cooking class, you'll learn not only about the flavors and ingredients that define Thai cuisine, but the techniques, as well—the unique way street vendors shred green papaya for a classic salad, for instance, or how to use a traditional clay mortar. With every palate-piquing bite, you’ll understand anew why this is a cuisine that could spark a lifelong obsession. Andy's Restaurants:Pok Pok (Portland, OR)Pok Pok Ny (Brooklyn, NY)Whiskey Soda Lounge (Portland, OR)Andy's Book:Pok Pok (2013)
Philly is a food lover's dream. Keith will check out the classic cheesesteak hoagie and soft pretzels, and also uncovers the history of Haberstatt Scrapple and Tastykakes. He also takes an tour of the foods in Historic Philadelphia.
It's not just the genes. It's also the food! It's not just the training. It's also the training table! We'll let you in on the power food of the NBA and WNBA. These people are strong and agile. What do they eat to stay that way?