Jonathan Waxman is an American chef who was one of the pioneers of

California cuisine California cuisine is a food movement that originated in Northern California. The cuisine focuses on dishes that are driven by local and sustainable ingredients with an attention to seasonality and an emphasis on the bounty of the region. Th ...

and is credited with being the first to bring its style, fusing French cooking techniques with the freshest local ingredients, to New York.

Biography

Born in 1950, Waxman grew up near

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. After graduating from the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

, he found work playing in bands at casinos and later with a rock band named "Lynx." Waxman eventually gave up his career as a trombonist to study at La Varenne cooking school in France. In 1979, he and restaurateur Michael McCarty opened Michael's Restaurant in an old mansion near the Santa Monica beach; the groundbreaking cuisine attracted diners from all over America. Five years later, he opened Jams Restaurant on East 79th Street in New York; the chance to dine with what ''New York Magazine'' called "an elder statesman of the new California cooking" made Jams the most sought after dining sensation of the season. His work at Jams made him a

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 ...

; "whoever said chefs in the 80's were like rock-and-roll stars", said one reviewer, "had Jonathan in mind." Among other restaurants created by Waxman are Bud's, Hulot's, Jams of London and Table 29. ''Esquire'' magazine put him on its list of most influential Americans. Waxman is currently the chef-owner of Barbuto in New York City's West Village, Jams in New York City's Midtown, Brezza Cucina in Atlanta's Ponce City Market, Adele's in Nashville, and in 2016 opened Waxman's at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. According to ''New York Magazine'', Barbuto's food is "rustic Italian," and the mood is "casually hip." His cookbook published by Simon & Schuster was released in 2011. In 2018, Waxman served as a guest judge on season nine of ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'', and was introduced as the mentor of Aarón Sanchez. In 2021, he again appeared as a guest judge for the show on season eleven. Waxman has also been an occasional judge on ''

Guy's Grocery Games '' Guy's Grocery Games'' (often nicknamed ''Triple G'') is an American reality competition television series hosted by Guy Fieri and his son Hunter on Food Network. Each episode features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination contest ...

'' – including when

Rocco DiSpirito Rocco DiSpirito (born November 19, 1966) is an American chef and reality television personality based in New York City, known for starring in the series '' The Restaurant''. Early life and education DiSpirito was born in Queens, New York. He gra ...

has competed from time to time.

''Top Chef: Masters''

In 2010, Waxman was a contestant on Bravo's '' Top Chef: Masters''. He was eliminated in the penultimate episode, placing fourth out of eighteen competitors.

James Oseland James Oseland is an American writer, editor and television personality. He is the author and editor-in-chief of ''World Food,'' an acclaimed book series from Ten Speed Press. He served as editor-in-chief of the U.S. food magazine ''Saveur'' from ...

, one of the main judges for season two of ''Top Chef: Masters'', has been quoted as saying, "I think he is one of the country’s greatest chefs."

Personal life

Waxman lives in Manhattan with his wife Sally and three children. Top Chef: Masters biography

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waxman, Jonathan American Jews Chefs from New York City Chefs from Berkeley, California Living people James Beard Foundation Award winners American restaurateurs 1950 births University of Nevada, Reno alumni