Under The Influence
When we were growing up, the only chef most of us could name was probably Julia Child and maybe Emeril "Bam" Lagasse. But these days, the proliferation of food culture has made the celebrity chef a real part of our lives. These are the most influential celebrity chefs—past and present.
Julia Child
Could a list like this really start anywhere else? For decades, she taught us all how to cook French cuisine and to have fun doing it in books and on TV. She was also the first woman to ever host a cooking show on television.
Lynn Gilbert, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Julia Child
There have been movies and TV shows made about her life, an hysterical SNL skit with Dan Akroyd playing her, and a show on the Food Network in her honor called, The Julia Child Challenge. A pioneer for women and a pioneer in cooking television, Julia Child is an icon of celebrity chefdom of the highest order.
Photo Researchers, Getty Images
Gordon Ramsay
To some, he's the guy who yells at everybody, but Gordon Ramsay is more than just that. He's also an extremely talented chef with over 50 restaurants to his name. He probably has had close to that many reality shows as well—from Hell's Kitchen to Kitchen Nightmares. Sure, the yelling can be a bit much, but in today's celebrity chef world, there is probably no chef more well known by the general public than Gordon Ramsay.
gordonramsaysubmissions, Flickr
Guy Fieri
You can't turn on the Food Network these days without seeing Guy Fieri and his spiked white locks. The New York Times called him the "face of the network" in 2010 and that statement holds true to this day. From Triple-D (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) to Triple-G (Guy's Grocery Games) and many others, Fieri's influence on today's food culture can't be ignored.
Anthony Bourdain
In 2000, Bourdain was just a non-celebrity, non-influential chef in New York City. Then, he wrote Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly—and everything changed. Bourdain's exposé of the restaurant and food business was a landmark book, and so began his road to stardom.
Anthony Bourdain
A road that went around the world—and he took us with him on his beloved shows Parts Unknown and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. Viewers respected him and he respected the viewer. His passing in 2018 left a hole that has yet to, and may never, be filled.
CNN, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2013–2018)
Giada De Laurentiis
She's known as much for her big smile as she is her big talent in the kitchen. Her show Everyday Italian is still in production today, two decades after the Emmy Award-winning program premiered on the Food Network and launched De Laurentiis toward the heights of celebrity chef status.
Scripps Productions, Everyday Italian (2003-)
Bobby Flay
Has anyone had more television shows on the Food Network than Bobby Flay? Okay, so we don't actually know the answer to that question, but our guess would be 'no'. He began his reign on the network with one grill show after another but he eventually found the thing he does best—cooking competitions: Iron Chef, Beat Bobby Flay, and others. We wouldn't hesitate to call him the greatest culinary competitor of all time.
The Food Network, Beat Bobby Flay (2013-2024)
Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver was only 23 years old when the BBC gave him his own cooking show, and The Naked Chef became a hit (especially after the Food Network picked it up). Oliver's dedication to fresh ingredients and simple cooking has made him a favorite of many and a staple on bookstore shelves.
BBC, The Naked Chef (1999–2001)
Marcus Samuelsson
Born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, Marcus Samuelsson brings his varied cultural roots to his fantastic cuisine. Samuelsson has been both judge and contestant on a variety of food competition shows and came out victorious on both Top Chef All-Stars and Chopped All-Stars. His restaurant, Red Rooster, is a famed Harlem eatery and he now also has restaurants in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Montréal.
Jacques Pépin
Jacques Pépin grew up in France and in his early days as a chef, he reached such status that he was, at one time, the personal chef for Charles De Gaulle. He arrived in New York in the last '50s and that's when he began his ascent to celebrity chef status. There's a very good chance you and/or your parents have one of Jacques Pépin's cookbooks in your house and watched his PBS series, Everyday Cooking, that began in 1982.
Edsel Little, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Marie-Antoine Carême
Born in the 1780s, Marie-Antoine Carême is considered by many to be the world's first celebrity chef. Growing up in Paris, Carême started working in kitchens at 8-years-old and by 15, was apprenticing at Patisserie de la Rue de la Paix. While at this famous pastry shop, Carême made his name recreating iconic landmarks using sugar, marzipan, and the like. He even made Napoleon's wedding cake.
Fontaine, Pierre François Léonard, Wikimedia Commons
Alain Ducasse
Ducasse had three Michelin Stars by the time he was 33 (that's really impressive) and over his distinguished career, has seen his portfolio grow to include over 20 restaurants and two hotels. He's in his late '60s, but doesn't show any sign of slowing down. In fact, he told Food & Wine magazine that he "would love to create the first restaurant ever on Mars".
James Beard
You might not know what he looks like, but any foodie, or even casual Food Network viewer, knows the name James Beard for the prestigious James Beard Award that was named after him. And speaking of cooking shows...
Bill Golladay, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
James Beard
Beard had the first one ever—I Love to Eat hit the airwaves in 1946. Along with all the teaching and schools he started, he was also one of the OG consultants for the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City, which was a New York culinary institution from 1959 to 2019.
Charles O'Rear, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck is more than just the guy who has a restaurant in seemingly every airport we visit. He is the guy who opened famed LA eatery Spago in 1982 and changed the food landscape in that city. He is also the guy who's been the chief culinary officer for the after-Oscars Governors Ball for 30 years.
Emeril Lagasse
BAM! Need we say more? Okay, we will. Those of you watching the Food Network today should appreciate that the network might never have become what it did were it not for Lagasse. His shows, Essence of Emeril followed by Emeril Live!, arguably made the Food Network a thing and Lagasse parlayed that success into a product, restaurant, and cookbook empire that deserves yet another...BAM!
Food Network, Essence of Emeril (1996–2008)
Martin Yan
Yan Can Cook. That was the name of Martin Yan's cooking show on PBS that began airing in 1982. He made cooking Chinese food at home something anyone could do because, "If Yan can cook, so can you!" In 2022, Yan received the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award.
Yan Can Cook Group, Yan Can Cook (1982)
Martha Stewart
As much a celebrity chef as she is a celebrity gardener as she is a celebrity expert in all things entertaining, Martha Stewart is a brand unto herself. Whether you know her for her food, her flowers, or her home décor, Stewart has been an uber-influential pop culture figure for decades—and in her '80s, she is still going strong. She was on the cover of Sports Illustrated's "Swimsuit Issue" at age 81.
Rachael Ray
When you think of fast and yummy meals (or should we say "yummo" meals) you probably think of Rachel Ray. Her show 30-Minute Meals was a breakout hit and set Ray up for everything she's done since—cookbooks, talk shows, even a line of dog food called Nutrish.
Food Network, 30 Minute Meals (2002-2019)
Ina Garten
Her name is Ina Garten but to many of us she will always be the Barefoot Contessa. The Barefoot Contessa cooking show ran for almost 20 years on the Food Network and it was beloved by so many. Also, raise your hand if you've used Garten's recipe for roasting a chicken. Yup, so have we.
Food Network, Barefoot Contessa (2002–2021)
Alice Waters
Waters opened her restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California in 1971, and with it, she initiated the country to what would become known as the Slow Food Movement. She was also one of the leading advocates for farm-to-table (before it was a buzzword).
David Tran Photo, Shutterstock
Christopher Kimball
Yes, it's the America's Test Kitchen show guy. Kimball hosted the show for 16 years and has made it his mission to help everyday people feel comfortable in the kitchen. "We found that people," Kimball said, "when they get in the kitchen ... they're scared. Especially if they're a beginning cook there's fear ... and so I stand up as sort of the everyman ... I stand in for the viewer to make the viewer feel comfortable". Let us say "thank you".
Kristen Kish
One of the newest celeb chefs on this list, Kristen Kish made her mark when she won Top Chef Season 10 in 2013 and since then she's already added a whole host of shows to her resume: 36 Hours, Fast Foodies, Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, and Restaurants at the End of the World. But speaking of "host", it is her new gig as host of Top Chef (taking over from Padma Lakshmi) that is set to elevate her status even more.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Jean-Georges Vongerichten has been in the game for 50 years and has opened 50 restaurants in that time. You know the famous Jean-Georges restaurant in New York City? Vongerichten is that Jean-Georges. He's also the guy who invented the molten lava cake.
Ming Tsai
Tsai popularized fusion cuisine with his Food Network show East Meets West and his show Simply Ming has been on PBS for over 20 years now. He also launched a line of frozen vegan foods called Mings Bings.
Carla Hall
Whether you know her from Top Chef Season 5, Top Chef All-Stars, or her co-hosting duties on The Chew, you know Carla Hall. She has cookbooks galore, podcasts, and in 2018, The Washington Post called her "the most visible black person in food".
René Redzepi
His name might not be the most recognizable, but in the mid-2010's, a Food & Wine magazine headline declared: "René Redzepi is the World's Most Influential Chef". How did Redzepi earn that headline? One word...Noma!
René Redzepi
The restaurant Redzepi opened in Copenhagen in 2003, and it rethought the entire restaurant and food landscape. Noma has been named the world's best restaurant five times since 2010. However, if you want to experience it, time is running out. Redzepi has said he plans on closing the restaurant at the end of 2024 and turning it into Noma Projects—a test kitchen for online ordering.
Joël Robuchon
Besides making what many have called the best mashed potatoes in the world, Joël Robuchon racked up 31 Michelin stars and in 1990, was honored as the Chef of the Century.
Joël Robuchon
He was a calm presence in the kitchen, at least compared to the likes of a Gordon Ramsay. But speaking of the Hell’s Kitchen star, Robuchon has said that the only time he ever got angry enough in the kitchen to throw a plate of food, it was thrown at a young Ramsay. Robuchon succumbed to cancer in 2018. He was 73 years old.
Maurice ROUGEMONT, Getty Images
Marco Pierre White
Before there was Gordon Ramsay, there was Marco Pierre White. He's been called the first "rock star chef" and he had the attitude, the rebellion, and the temper to match said moniker. Along with being the man we have to thank—or blame—for mentoring Ramsay (even bringing a young Ramsay to tears in the kitchen), White was the youngest British-born chef to be awarded three Micheline stars. Although, being the true I'll-do-what-I-want, stick-it-to-the-man rebel that he was, he gave all his stars back in 1999.
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