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How many chefs can trace their first restaurant job back to a countess? Daniel Boulud, winner of half a dozen James Beard Awards and owner of multiple Michelin-starred restaurants, can. Appropriately enough for a chef who shows a reverence for great ingredients, Boulud began his life on a farm: “There was a certain connection to everything,” he recalls about growing up on a 60-acre plot near Lyon. He was surrounded by vegetables, orchards, chickens, and cows—and it was there that his grandmother first taught him to cook, at a small café attached to the ranch. For years, he’d deliver fresh milk and eggs to a countess, who eventually heard about his dream of becoming a chef. She placed a call to the chef at Nandron, a two-starred restaurant in the city, to get Boulud a job. Only three years later, at just 17, he was awarded Best Culinary Apprentice in France by the Maitres Cuisiniers de.From that point on, Boulud charged through the cosmos of France’s Michelin-starred restaurants on a meteoric rise: he worked for Georges Blanc, Roger Vergé, and Michel Guérard, some of the greatest French chefs of our time. After his first experience working abroad in Copenhagen’s Plaza Hotel, Boulud took an even further leap to Washington, D.C., as the private chef to the Ambassador of the European Commission. But Boulud couldn’t contain his ambitions within a private kitchen, so he soon made a break for NYC, where he cooked alongside Thomas Keller at the Polo Lounge.From there, it’s easy to run down Boulud’s impressive resume, from his six career James Beard Foundation awards to the expansion of his restaurant empire from Singapore to Miami, London and beyond. But you can't eat glitz and panache! Instead, find proof of his genius and culinary mastery in his refined, custardy French omelette; Basque-style cod simmered in tomato-chorizo sauce; salade niçoise drizzled with his grandmother’s garlic vinaigrette; and luscious chocolate soufflés that tremble on your spoon.French cuisine is all about technique. These dishes, in particular, can be challenging to make if each step isn't carried out just right; with written instructions alone, it can be hard to achieve the best results. That's why video instruction from a perfectionist like Boulud is a rare gift. Simply press play to plunge into his delectable universe, and you'll amaze yourself by what you can accomplish with Boulud's help.Daniel's Restaurants:DBGB Kitchen and Bar (Washington, DC)Café Boulud (New York, NY)Daniel (New York, NY)DB Bistro & Oyster Bar (Singapore)Daniel's Books:Letters to a Young Chef (2006)Daniel (2013)

Inspired by a life full of cattle ranching and working his way up through the restaurant ranks, meat-loving chef Rahm Fama follows his carnivorous curiosity across the country, searching out the choicest cuts and obsessing over mouth-watering meat on his Food Network show, Meat & Potatoes. Rahm is fascinated by the story behind food, especially meat, and he appreciates the time, effort, dedication and passion required to get it to the plate.Rahm’s love of food and respect for all-things meat stem from growing up in Santa Fe, N.M., and working on his mother’s cattle ranch. He began his culinary career at age 15 when he secured a prep cook position at a local restaurant, Mark Miller’s Coyote Café. He spent two years there, and he knew for sure that the kitchen was his calling. Rahm instantly fell in love with the excitement, atmosphere, and fast-paced action of the restaurant, and his curiosity pushed him to discover food through travel and firsthand experience. He traveled to many kitchens, cooking his way through locales including Austin, Phoenix/Scottsdale, New York, Colorado Springs, Vail, and St. Lucia.After learning the restaurant ropes locally, he moved to Austin to work as a line cook at Westbank Fishcamp for a year then returned to Santa Fe where he worked as a cook at Quail Run. Next, Rahm traveled to Phoenix/Scottsdale to work as a lead line cook at Scottsdale Phoenician. Rahm was offered a chef de cuisine position at age 22 in The Broadmoor, a five-star hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo. He accepted his first executive chef position working with Serge Raoul at Raoul’s in New York when he was 26. Rahm discovered that the hotel culinary world was an extraordinary place to experiment with food and learn about cooking from a business perspective after two unique experiences in New Mexico: He built up the Sierra Grande Lodge & Spa in New Mexico from scratch, and then he spent more than four years as executive chef of La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa transforming the award-winning Fuego restaurant into a world-class destination. Then, in 2006, he took a job as the executive chef for the Lodge at Vail in Colorado, overseeing all culinary operations including the signature AAA Four Diamond Award winning restaurant, The Wildflower, and the Tuscan-style dining venue, Cucina Rustica. In addition to his restaurant experience, Rahm also worked as a private chef and has cooked at the prestigious James Beard House in 2006 and 2008.Quite the adventurer, Rahm spent time on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, exploring remote townships and learning indigenous recipes from village matriarchs while opening a new restaurant for RockResorts. While in Vail, Rahm lived in a mountain cabin without a kitchen; he taught himself to cook everything from bread to main course meals over a wood-burning fire.Rahm loves to fish, boat and explore new food venues on a non-stop quest for unique recipes and new ingredients that will ultimately inspire his own cooking. He has three children (Delani, Kali, and Recce) all of whom he’s eagerly teaching to cook. Rahm currently lives in Los Angeles.