Carrie Nahabedian (born July 22, 1958) is an American chef best known for her work at the one

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

restaurant NAHA in Chicago, Illinois. She has previously worked in a variety of restaurants, and while at NAHA, she won a

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 awar ...

in 2008.

Biography

Growing up she was influenced in her cooking by her mother, but also by

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 ...

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

. She later described watching Child as "like watching an artist painting". Nahabedian started her culinary career with a three-year apprenticeship at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Chicago. She then moved to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, to become assistant chef to the garde manger at the

Resorts Casino Hotel Resorts Casino Hotel is a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Resorts brought gaming to Atlantic City in 1978 as the first American casino outside Nevada when it opened in 1978. The resort completed an expansion in 2004, adding the ...

when it first opened. She moved back to Chicago to work at Le Perroquet before moving onto a variety of restaurants in Europe before returning to the United States where she became the first woman to work at Chicago's Le Francais. She went on to work at a number of other Illinois-based restaurants. In 1989, she became sous chef at the

Four Seasons Hotel Chicago Four Seasons Hotel Chicago is a hotel in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1989, it is part of Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The 345-room hotel occupies the 30th through 46th floors of the 900 North Michigan buildin ...

, going on to become executive chef, which was her first time at that level. She stayed within the Four Seasons Hotels chain, moving to the Four Seasons Hotel Biltmore. After eight years in California with the hotel chain, Nahabedian returned to Chicago to open her restaurant NAHA. It would go on to win a

and continues to hold one as of the 2012 edition of the guide.

Awards and honors

In 2008, Nahabedian was awarded the

for the Great Lakes region.

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

named September 22, 2009 in honor of Nahabedian, the same day that she was inducted into the Chicago Culinary Museum's Chefs Hall of Fame. Naha was given four AAA Motor Club diamonds for the first time in 2012. As of the 2012 edition of the Michelin Guide, Nahabedian is one of only ten female chefs in the United States to hold a

Personal life

Nahabedian is of Armenian descent, due to her Armenian grandmother Rose.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nahabedian, Carrie Living people 1958 births American people of Armenian descent Chefs from Chicago American women chefs Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants James Beard Foundation Award winners 21st-century American women