Celina Tio is an American chef who won the

James Beard Foundation 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 award ...

for Best Mid-West Chef in 2007, has appeared on several ''

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'' television series, and owns The Belfry restaurant in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

Career

Celina Tio trained at

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, ...

. Her first culinary work was in the kitchen of a

Bennigan's Bennigan's is an Irish pub-themed American casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1976 in Atlanta by restaurateur Norman E. Brinker as one of America's original casual dining concepts. The chain operated under the restaurant division of Pillsb ...

Irish pub An Irish pub is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. Irish pubs are characterised by a unique culture centred around a casual and friendly atmosphere, hearty food and drink, Irish sports, and ...

-themed

casual dining restaurant Restaurants fall into several industry classifications, based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing, as well as the means by which the food is served to the customer. This article mainly describes the situation in the USA, while catego ...

, after convincing the manager to take her on. She then began working at the

Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia is a luxury hotel and residential complex in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises three adjoining buildings: the Girard Trust Bank, at the northwest corner of South Broad & Chestnut St ...

. By the time she was 23, she was

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads Lead is a chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead or The Lead may also refer to: Animal handling * Leash, or lead * Lead (leg), ...

at the grill room within the hotel. She then moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, where she opened the

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restaurant Spoodles, the

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restaurant Citricos, and the Northern Italian restaurant Palo for

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. She then moved to

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, to work as executive chef at the American Restaurant in Kansas City. While there, she was named Best Chef by ''Chef'' magazine in 2005 and won the

for Best Mid-West Chef in 2007. She subsequently left to open her own restaurant, Julian in

Brookside, Kansas City Brookside is a collection of neighborhoods located in Kansas City, Missouri, bounded by 55th Street on the North, Gregory on the South, Ward Parkway on the West, and Troost on the East. The neighborhood contains the Brookside Shopping District. B ...

, in 2009. While at Julian, Tio appeared on several television cooking series such as ''

Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition te ...

'', ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, w ...

'' and ''

The Next Iron Chef ''The Next Iron Chef'' is a limited-run series on the Food Network that aired its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program ''Iron ...

''. Julian was a change in cuisine for Tio, with a more relaxed menu instead of the

fine dining Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an of ...

she served while at the American Restaurant. She opened a second restaurant, called Collection, in 2013, and a further restaurant entitled The Belfry, during the following year. After eight years, Tio decided not to renew the lease for Julian in 2017, saying "I’ve been very fortunate that Julian has been and remains successful and am super grateful for all the continued support of my guests over the years. But I feel like the time is right to move on and give another local restaurateur an opportunity to thrive in Brookside".

Personal life

Regarding her ethnicity, Tio has described herself as "half- Chinese".

References

External links

* 1970s births Date of birth missing (living people) American people of Chinese descent American businesspeople American television chefs Drexel University alumni James Beard Foundation Award winners Living people Participants in American reality television series American women chefs 21st-century American women {{chef-stub