Chris Schlesinger is a

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

-based chef and restaurateur.

Background

Born in Virginia, Schlesinger graduated from

The Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a Private university, private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena, California, St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singa ...

in 1977. The nephew of historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., he started at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

but dropped out. Early jobs after graduating from CIA include being the chef at the Sakonnet Golf Club in Rhode Island.

Restaurants

In 1986,

East Coast Grill East Coast Grill & Raw Bar, commonly known as East Coast Grill, was a seafood and barbecue restaurant in the Inman Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Chris Schlesinger in 1985. The restaurant was famous for the ...

opened (in Inman Square,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, since closed); in 1989, Jake and Earl's Dixie BBQ (in

and Waltham, since closed) and in 1990, The Blue Room, in Kendall Square, with Stan Frankenthaler. In 1999 he opened the Back Eddy in Westport, MA, overlooking the Westport River. With Dave Cagle, he opened The Automatic in Kendall Square.

Awards and honors

In 1996, Schlesinger 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 awar ...

for Best Chef of the Northeast. He has appeared on the

WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...

show A Moveable Feast With Fine Cooking. He was featured on the PBS show (episode 102) of How to Cook Everything: Bittman Takes On America's Chefs.

Bibliography

Along with John "Doc" Willoughby, he has written five cookbooks: the James Beard Cookbook Award winner, The Thrill of the Grill (Morrow, 1990); Salsas, Sambals, Chutneys, and Chowchows (Morrow, 1993); Big Flavors of the Hot Sun (Morrow, 1994); Lettuce in Your Kitchen (Morrow, 1996); and License to Grill (Morrow, 1997). They also have a monthly feature in The New York Times, and have written numerous articles for magazines such as GQ and Food & Wine. Chris is also a Contributing Editor for Saveur magazine.Chef Chris Schlesinger's Biography on StarChefs
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlesinger, Chris American restaurateurs Chefs from Massachusetts American male chefs Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni Living people James Beard Foundation Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) Barbecue chefs Inman Square