John Besh

John Besh (born May 14, 1968) is an American chef, TV personality, philanthropist, restaurateur and author. He is known for his efforts in preserving the culinary heritage of New Orleans cuisine.

Background

Besh was born in Meridian, Mississippi, and raised in Slidell. He has been married to Jenifer Berrigan Besh since 1991; together they have four children. The family are practicing Catholics and parishioners of the St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, Louisiana. Besh is a former US Marine. In 1992, he graduated from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), but his schooling was cut short owing to his serving in the Gulf War.

In 1999, ''Food & Wine'' named Besh among the "Best New Chefs" based on his food at restaurant ''Artesia''.

John Besh was a co-owner with Octavio Mantilla of Besh Restaurant Group (BRG), the group formed after they bought out the original investors of the acclaimed restaurant ''August''.

In 2006, Besh won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef, South". In 2008, he earned Food Arts' Silver Spoon Award for "revitalizing the culinary legacy of New Orleans".

Sexual misconduct controversy

In 2017, the BRG managers and owners were accused of perpetuating "a culture of sexual harassment" and sexual misconduct at the restaurants, publicized by 25 current and former employees.

Besh addressed the accusations in a statement: "Two years ago, I deeply hurt those I love by thoughtlessly engaging in a consensual relationship with one member of my team. Since then I have been seeking to rebuild my marriage and come to terms with my reckless actions given the profound love I have for my wife, my boys and my Catholic faith." Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain tweeted an image of the complaint filed against Besh's group, calling it "the beginning of the end of institutionalized Meathead Culture in the restaurant business".

Two days after the allegations were made public, Besh stepped down from BRG. BRG executive Shannon White replaced Besh as CEO of the restaurant group. BRG was renamed ''BRG Hospitality'' after Besh's departure.

Aftermath

In October 2017, in response to the allegations of sexual misconduct, Besh stepped down from the executive advisory board for the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame. According to the ''National Catholic Reporter'', "Other Catholic entities that have been affiliated with Besh have not released statements about their future relationship". Besh also served as a judge (alongside fellow chef Giada De Laurentiis) on an episode of the Food Network series '' Iron Chef Showdown'' that was originally set to air on December 13, 2017; however, the episode got pushed back to January 10, 2018, with Besh having been digitally edited out.

Lindsey Reynolds, the former Besh Restaurant Group staff member who helped expose the company's culture of sexual harassment, is one of the people ''Time'' magazine named among the national #MeToo movement as 2017's ''Time'' Person of the Year.

Restaurants

Many of his restaurants have celebrated Louisiana regional cooking, including Restaurant August, Besh Steakhouse, Lüke, La Provence, Domenica, Pizza Domenica, Johnny Sánchez, Shaya and Borgne.

The following active restaurants are associated with Besh:
* ''August'' – New Orleans' Central Business District – his flagship restaurant, featuring contemporary French cuisine with an emphasis on local ingredients. Featured in Gourmet magazine's "Guide to America's Best Restaurants" and "America's Top 50 Restaurants".
* ''Borgne'' – Hyatt Regency – coastal Louisiana cuisine, such as shrimp toast rissoles, oyster spaghetti and seafood stuffed flounder.
*''Domenica'' – Roosevelt Hotel – Italian; name means "Sunday" in Italian.
*''Lüke'' – New Orleans Central Business District – French, German and Creole cuisine.
*''Pizza Domenica'' – Uptown New Orleans – A casual spinoff of Domenica.
*''Shaya'' – New Orleans Uptown – Modern Israeli cuisine.
*''Willa Jean'' – The Paramount at South Market District – bakery and restaurant opened in August 2015.
*''The Caribbean Room'', ''Bayou Bar'', ''Hot Tin'', ''Silverwhistle Cafe'' – All located at the historic Pontchartrain Hotel opened summer of 2016.
*Eunice – "Cajun, Creole brasserie", opening "late Fall 2017" in Houston, Texas

The following restaurants associated with Besh are now closed or no longer feature Besh:
*''Artesia'' – was located in Abita Springs, Louisiana.
*''Besh Steak'' – Harrah's New Orleans Casino – steakhouse. In October 2017, Harrah's announced that they would be terminating the relationship with Besh Restaurant Group (BRG) after the controversy around sexual harassment and sexual misconduct.
*''La Provence'' – Lacombe, Louisiana – French, Besh sold the restaurant in May 2017; the restaurant closed in 2018.
* ''Lüke'' – San Antonio location (closed in 2017)
*''Johnny Sánchez'' ''Baltimore'' – Mexican-Inspired fare, co-owned with Aarón Sánchez, closed in 2017.
*''Johnny Sánchez'' – located in New Orleans, Mexican-Inspired fare opened in October 2014, this was co-owned with Aarón Sánchez. But as of February 2019 Besh is no longer involved with this restaurant, he was replaced by long time employees Miles Landrem, and Drew Mire.

Television appearances

Bibliography

Cookbooks

*''My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking'', 2011, .
*''My New Orleans: The Cookbook: 200 of My Favorite Recipes & Stories from My Hometown'', 2009, .
*''Cooking From The Heart: My Favorite Lessons Learned Along the Way'', 2013, .
*''Besh Big Easy: 101 Home-Cooked New Orleans Recipes'', September 2015, .

Contributions

Besh has contributed writing, recipes or been featured in the following books:
* ''The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook'' by Mimi Luebbermann, Robert Holmes, and Dan Mills, 2006, .
* ''The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine'' by John D. Folse, 2004, p. 786, .
* ''The Pleasure of Your Company: Entertaining in High Style'' by Kimberly Schlegel, 2004, p. 122, .
* Introduction to ''Military High Life. Elegant Food Histories and Recipes'' by Agostino Von Hassell, 2006, .
* Forward to ''Trout Point Lodge Cookbook: Creole Cuisine from New Orleans to Nova Scotia'', Random House, 2004

*''New Orleans Program: Eat, Exercise, and Enjoy Life'', with David A., M.D. Newsome, 2006, .

*''Reel Masters: Chefs Casting about with Timing and Grace'', Susan Schadt (Author), John Besh (Contribution by), John Currence (Contribution by) , Kelly English (Contribution by) , Chris Hastings (Contribution by), Donald Link (Contribution by), Walter Bundy (Contribution by) , Kevin Willman (Contribution by), Jeremiah Bacon (Contribution by), Lisa Buser (Photographer), Peter Kaminsky (Foreword by), 2016,

References

External links

*

Restaurant August

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besh, John
1968 births
Living people
American television chefs
American male chefs
Writers from New Orleans
United States Marine Corps reservists
United States Marines
Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni
Sexual harassment in the United States
American cookbook writers
Culinary Institute of America alumni
People from Meridian, Mississippi
People from Slidell, Louisiana
James Beard Foundation Award winners
Catholics from Louisiana
21st-century American non-fiction writers
Businesspeople from Louisiana
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Gulf War
Chefs from New Orleans
Chefs from Mississippi