Amanda Freitag (born May 11, 1970) is an American

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

and cookbook author. She is known for her frequent appearances on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

television programs and her work as a judge on television cooking competitions. She is based in New York City.

Early life and education

Freitag was raised in

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 12,980, an increase of 569 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 12,411, which in tu ...

. She attended Cedar Grove High School, then known as Memorial High School, where her home economics teacher, Joan Levine, suggested that Freitag might be interested in attending 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 ...

(CIA). Freitag attended CIA at the Hyde Park location, graduating in 1989.

Restaurant career

Following graduation in 1989, Freitag took a position at Vong New York working under chef

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Jean-Georges Vongerichten (; ; born March 16, 1957) is a French-American chef.

. In 1994, she left Vong to cook at Verbena, under chef Diane Forley. Freitag has stated that her time at Verbena was meaningful and she built important relationships, and where she first learned to focus on using local, organic ingredients. After Verbena, Freitag traveled to France and Italy, working for a short while at L'Arpège restaurant under chef

Alain Passard Alain Passard (; born 4 August 1956 at La Guerche-de-Bretagne, France) is a French chef and owner of the three Michelin star restaurant L'Arpège in Paris. The son of musicians, Passard plays the saxophone. History and mentors Alain Passard ...

in 1999. In 2003, Freitag and restaurateur Godfrey Polistina opened the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

restaurant ''Cesca Enoteca & Trattoria''. Freitag was

chef de cuisine A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef that manages multiple kitche ...

at Cesca, before moving to an executive chef position at ''The Harrison''. On September 3, 2010, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that Freitag would be leaving the Harrison, and the restaurant's owner, Jimmy Bradley, will return as chef. From January 2014 until July 2015, Freitag took over as executive chef of the Empire Diner in Manhattan, New York. In September 2020, Freitag and Kevin Lillis’ Hospitality Alliance opened the bistro ''Rise & Thyme'' in Dallas, Texas.

Restaurants

Former

Television appearances

Since 2009, Freitag has been a frequent judge on the culinary reality game show '' Chopped''. In 2009, She battled

Bobby Flay Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and Television presenter, television personality. Flay is the owner and Chef de cuisine, executive chef of several restaurants and fr ...

on ''

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, wh ...

'' in “Battle: King Crab” (season 7, episode 10), with judges Keyshawn Johnson,

Maggie Rodriguez Margarita Dania Rodriguez (born December 12, 1969) is a former co-anchor of the CBS television broadcast, ''The Early Show'', from December 2007 to December 2010. Rodriguez was also a substitute anchor for Katie Couric on '' The CBS Evening New ...

, and Domenica Catelli. She narrowly lost, with a score of 49 against Flay's 50 points. The judging was evenly matched, with the exception of Freitag having earned one point fewer in the "taste" category. Freitag competed in '' The Next Iron Chef'' Season 2, finishing in fourth place. Freitag stated she would continue as a judge on ''Chopped'' for the 2010 season and she returned for the season four episode "Against the Tide". On the April 15, 2012 episode of ''

'', Freitag appeared alongside '' Chopped'' Grand Champion Madison Cowan in "Battle: Kale", acting as Cowan's sous chef. She appeared as a contestant on season five of '' The Next Iron Chef''. She lost to

Alexandra Guarnaschelli {{Infobox chef , name = Alex Guarnaschelli , image = , caption = , birth_date = {{birth date and age, 1969, 6, 20 , birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. , birth_name = Alexandra Maria Guarnaschelli ...

in the finale on December 23. On May 22, 2015, she and

Ty Pennington Tygert Burton "Ty" Pennington (born Gary Tygert Burton; October 19, 1964) is an American television host, artist, carpenter, author, and former model and actor. His rise to prominence began with his role as carpenter on the TLC home improvemen ...

began hosting the new Food Network series ''American Diner Revival'', on which they make over diners' menus and interiors. The Food Network: American Diner Revival
/ref> On March 4, 2020, Freitag competed on the first season of Food Network’s

Tournament of Champions A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, hosted by Guy Fieri. Freitag placed second in the competition. People Magazine: Watch Guy Fieri Host an Epic Cooking Competition with His Fellow Food Network Stars
/ref>

Publications

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freitag, Amanda 1972 births Culinary Institute of America alumni Food Network chefs American women chefs Cedar Grove High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Cedar Grove, New Jersey Living people Judges in American reality television series Chefs from New Jersey Writers from Essex County, New Jersey