Todd Gray is an American executive chef and co-owner of Equinox on 19th, formerly Equinox, a restaurant in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and of Manna, an upscale restaurant located in the

Museum of the Bible The Museum of the Bible is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, owned by Museum of the Bible, Inc., a non-profit organization established in 2010 by the David Green (entrepreneur), Green family. The museum documents the narrative, histo ...

, also in the capital.

Biography

Gray was born in

He studied art at the undergraduate level at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

, but decided to change to the culinary arts and studied at the

Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...

. After this, he was an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

in some of the country's popular kitchens, following which he spent four years learning from Robert Greault in a French restaurant, and then seven years in an Italian one with Roberto Donna. He was a 5 time

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

Nominee for Best Chef

Mid-Atlantic Mid-Atlantic or Mid Atlantic can refer to: *The middle of the Atlantic Ocean *Mid-Atlantic English, any mix between British and American English *Mid-Atlantic Region (Little League World Series), one of the United States geographic divisions of the ...

. He and his wife Ellen Kassoff Gray have created the cookbook ''The New Jewish Table''. In 2018, he drew attention for beginning to serve a sweet resin found on shrubs in the Middle East including

tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamb ...

, that is thought by many scholars to the Biblical food

manna Manna (, ; ), sometimes or archaically spelled Mahna or Mana, is described in the Bible and the Quran as an edible substance that God in Abrahamic religions, God bestowed upon the Israelites while they were wandering the desert during the 40-year ...

at his restaurant, Manna.

TV appearances

He was the host of an episode of ''Chefs A' Field'' and he was a guest in an episode of ''Tyler's Ultimate''. In 2016 he was a contestant on ''

Beat Bobby Flay ''Beat Bobby Flay'' is an American cooking competition show on the Food Network. It features various chefs competing against Bobby Flay. The show is taped in front of a live audience. Format In the first round, two guests, often a celebrity ...

'', and lost to Flay in the second round. He was also on an episode of "Guy's Grocery Games".

Awards and recognition

Awards and recognition for Gray include: *James Beard Foundation, 5 nominations for Best Chef *Mid-Atlantic Restaurant Association *Metropolitan Washington’s RAMMY Award for Best Fine Dining Restaurant & Chef of the Year *Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants *DiRoNA Award for Fine Dining *Washington Post’s Top 50 restaurants *Wine Spectator Award of Excellence *Town & Country’s Best Restaurant in Washington, DC *Conde Nast’s 60 Hot Tables *Bon Appetit’s Top Tables *Esquire’s Best New Restaurants *Gourmet’s America’s Top Tables, Newcomer

References

External links

Cork and KnifeFood and Wine
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male chefs Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia) alumni Chefs from Washington, D.C. Culinary Institute of America alumni Reality cooking competition contestants {{Food-bio-stub