''Chef's Story'' is a 26-part

Public Television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

series featuring Dorothy Cann Hamilton interviewing well-known

chefs 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 kitch ...

and restaurateurs. Hamilton, founder and CEO of The

French Culinary Institute The International Culinary Center was a private for-profit culinary school headquartered in New York City. In 2020, it merged into the Institute of Culinary Education, also in New York City. It was founded as The French Culinary Institute by D ...

, conducts the interviews in front of culinary students in the first half of each episode. Each chef then moves into a kitchen in the second half and prepares a dish they consider signature or instructive. The FCI's International Culinary Theater acts as the host for each episode. Inspired by

Inside the Actors Studio ''Inside the Actors Studio'' is an American talk show that airs on Ovation. The series premiered in 1994 on Bravo where it aired for 22 seasons and was hosted by James Lipton from its premiere until 2018. It is taped at the Michael Schimmel C ...

, interviews focus on each guest's growth as a chef and the philosophy they bring to their restaurants. Chef's Story is produced by Soho Culinary Productions, Full Plate Media, and Lemnos Development and debuted on public television stations in April 2007. A companion book compiled by Dorothy Hamilton and Patric Kuh was also published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

.Dorothy Hamilton and Patric Kuh. (3 April 2007). ''Chef's Story: 27 Chefs Talk About What Got Them into the Kitchen.'' Ecco. .

List of episodes

# Rick Bayless # Anthony Bourdain # Lidia Bastianich # André Soltner #

Bobby Flay Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, the Berkshires and Dubai. He is best known ...

# Jacques Pépin #

Thomas Keller Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Found ...

# Cat Cora # Patrick O'Connell # Michel Richard # Alain Sailhac # Marcus Samuelsson #

José Andrés José Ramón Andrés Puerta (born 13 July 1969) is a Spanish chef, and founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a non-profit devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters. A Spanish-born and raised cook, he is often credited with br ...

Todd English William Todd English (born August 29, 1960) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality, based in Boston, Massachusetts. He hosted the TV cooking show, ''Food Trip with Todd English,'' on PBS. In 2005 he was ...

# Norman Van Aken # Suzanne Goin # Dean Fearing/Robert Del Grande # Dan Barber # Jacques Torres #

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Vongerichten (; ; born in Alsace, France, on 16 March 1957) is a French chef.

# Charlie Palmer #

Charlie Trotter Charles Trotter (September 8, 1959 – November 5, 2013) was an American chef and restaurateur. His most well-known restaurant, Charlie Trotter's, was open in Chicago from 1987 to 2012. Early life and education Trotter was born in Wilmette, Ill ...

# David Bouley # Arun Sampanthavivat #

Tom Colicchio Thomas Patrick Colicchio (; born August 15, 1962) is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Crafted Hospitality, wh ...

References

PBS original programming 2000s American cooking television series {{food-tv-prog-stub