Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef,

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

, television personality, and author. He is of Greek, Sicilian, and Eastern European descent. He is seen regularly on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

on shows such as '' Iron Chef America'', ''Burgers, Brew and 'Que,

Food Feuds ''Food Feuds'' is a weekly series hosted by Iron Chef Michael Symon that premiered on Food Network October 10, 2010. The show features food rivalries or "feuds" between local restaurants in cities around the United States. Synopsis In each episod ...

'', and '' The Best Thing I Ever Ate'', as well as ''Cook Like an Iron Chef'' on the'' ''

Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcas ...

and'' The Chew'' on ABC. He has also made numerous contributions to periodicals such as '' Bon Appétit'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''Food Arts'', '' Gourmet'', ''

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'' and '' O, The Oprah Magazine''. A native of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, Symon is the chef and owner of a number of restaurants in the

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census results, the five-county ...

area, including his flagship Lola, Mabel's BBQ and burger franchise BSpot. He is credited with helping to "save" the restaurant scene in Downtown Cleveland. He also owns Michael Symon's Roast (also known as Roast) in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. On May 6, 2017, he opened Angeline (named after his mother Angel) at the Borgata in Atlantic City,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

. Symon describes his cooking as "meat-centric."

Early life

Symon was born in

and is of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, Italian, and Eastern European ancestry.Article
''Detroit Free Press'' He was raised in North Olmsted, Ohio, attending St. Richard School in North Olmsted and St. Edward High School in

Lakewood Lakewood may refer to: Places Australia * Lakewood, Western Australia, an abandoned town in Western Australia Canada * Lakewood, Edmonton, Alberta * Lakewood Suburban Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Philippines * Lakewood, Zamboanga del S ...

, graduating in 1987. He took a part-time job at Geppetto's Pizza and Ribs on Warren Rd. as a cook. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 1990.

Career

Chef and restaurateur

Symon cooked in the Cleveland restaurant scene, working at Player's, a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

restaurant in

. In 1993, he moved to Piccolo Mondo as chef, developing a small yet devoted following. He subsequently moved to Caxton Cafe.

In February 1997, Michael and his then-fiancée (now wife), Liz Shanahan, opened Lola in Cleveland's trendy Tremont neighborhood. It is named after his aunt. At the time, the neighborhood was just beginning to be rediscovered and develop into the hipster, "go to" neighborhood that it has become. Tremont food scene pioneers Gerry Groh and Lynda Khoury had opened and grown one of the first new restaurants, named Bohemia, in Tremont. After several years of success, the couple was ready to move on to other ventures and the couple sold the space to the Symons. Lola garnered rave reviews and was named one of America's Best Restaurants in ''Gourmet'' magazine in its October 2000 issue. In 2005, he converted Lola into Lolita, and reopened Lola in downtown Cleveland the next year. On April 15, 2006, Symon opened a third restaurant, Parea, which in Greek means "a group of friends" or "company," in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The restaurant, which featured upscale Greek food and was located on East 20th Street near Park Avenue, was run by Jonathon Sawyer, who tutored under Symon at Lolita. It was located next door to Gramercy Tavern. Symon partnered with Telly Hatzigeorgiou, George Pantelidis, and Peter J. Pappas. Although ''New York Times'' food critic Frank Bruni gave the food a 2-stars rating (very good), he noted that the sound level reached "piercing heights." By many accounts, the food was good, as the restaurant was even listed on "100 Tastes to Try in '07" in ''Food & Wine'' magazine. It closed in 2007, and was acquired by Stavros Aktipis who renamed it Kellari's Parea. Symon opened Roast, a restaurant at the

Westin Book Cadillac Hotel The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit is a historic skyscraper hotel in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Washington Boulevard Historic District. Designed in the Neo-Renaissance style, and opened as the Book-Cadillac Hotel in 1924, the , 31-sto ...

in Detroit, Michigan in autumn 2008. Roast was named the 2009 Restaurant of the Year by the ''Detroit Free Press''.Rector, Sylvia
"Michael Symon's Roast heats up Detroit"
''Detroit Free Press'', April 20, 2009. He opened a restaurant on July 1, 2009 called Bar Symon in

Avon Lake, Ohio Avon Lake is a city in northeastern Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located on the southern shore of Lake Erie about 17 miles west of Cleveland. The population was 25,206 at the 2020 Census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Hi ...

featuring casual concepts on tavern food. Soon after, he opened a hamburger focused restaurant named BSpot in

Woodmere, Ohio Woodmere is a village in Cuyahoga County and an eastern suburb of the Greater Cleveland area in the US state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, Woodmere had a population of 884 residents. The village is bounded on the north by the city of Pepper P ...

. The original Avon Lake Bar Symon closed on October 19, 2010. However, the concept still exists in airports. In October 2009, the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

announced that Symon would contribute menu items to be prepared by foodservice firm Aramark at the Quicken Loans Arena. Two existing restaurants were renamed after Symon's bar-bistros, Bar Symon and BSpot, and some of his signature dishes were made available as suite

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and r ...

offerings. On October 19, 2010, Symon announced that he would be closing the Avon Lake location of Bar Symon. He later announced two more BSpot locations, one in Strongsville (opened April 6, 2011) and another in

Westlake Westlake may refer to: Places Australia * Westlake, Canberra, a ghost town suburb of Canberra * Westlake, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Westlake, New Zealand, a suburb of Auckland ** Westlake Girls High School ** Westlake Boys ...

(late 2011). Another BSpot opened at the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland in May 2012, and a BSpot stand opened on the club level at Cleveland Browns Stadium for the 2012

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

season. The BSpot in the casino closed in 2017. On June 25, 2012, Symon opened another Bar Symon in Pittsburgh International Airport-Airmall in partnership with United Concessions Group and The Paradies Shops. On November 21, 2015, Symon opened Symon's Burger Joint in Austin, TX near The University of Texas. This was his first venture outside of the Midwest. It closed in June 2017. On January 10, 2016, a fire caused the closure of Lolita in Tremont, which was originally the site of Lola. On May 1, 2016, Symon claimed a restaurant named Sherla's Chicken & Oysters would open in the former Lolita spot. He posted a concept menu on Facebook. On March 14, 2017, a Symon representative said the restaurant was "currently in the design phase." A Faceboo
page
for the restaurant was last updated on May 1, 2016, and has since been deleted. The UR
sherlaschicken.com
currently redirects to Symon's page. As late as May 15, 2019, Symon stated the project was in development: "We don't have an ETA, we're still plugging along," he said. "We got through everything with the building. We're hoping to start working on the building, hopefully within the next couple of weeks to a month. We're getting there." However, it was revealed 5 months later that the project would not be coming to fruition with no comment from Symon. On April 11, 2016, Symon opened Mabel's BBQ on East 4th Street adjacent to Lola. On June 11, 2016, Symon noted there would be only one location of Mabel's BBQ. On December 20, 2018, another Mabel's BBQ restaurant opened at the Palms Casino Resort in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. On February 6, 2019, a speakeasy named Sara's opened inside of the Palms Casino Mabel's BBQ location. On May 1, 2017, Bar Symon opened in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Concourse C. Also in May 2017, Symon opened Angeline at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. In the spring and summer of 2018, without warning, Symon closed all BSpot locations outside of Cleveland in the areas of Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, and

. On November 20, 2020, it was announced that Symon's flagship restaurant Lola and 2 more locations of BSpot would close due to financial pressures of COVID-19, leaving his only Ohio restaurants to be Mabel's BBQ in the East 4th Street District and BSpot Eton in Woodmere. In January 2022, Roast in Detroit closed suddenly and unexpectedly. In March 2022, what was the last BSpot location in Woodmere was converted to a Mabel's BBQ.

Media appearances

Symon often appears on behalf of

. During the summer of 2009, he promoted the Food Network's video game ''Cook Or Be Cooked'' for Wii, which was released on November 3, 2009. Symon was one of the rotating hosts of Food Network's show ''Melting Pot''. He appeared on ''Sara's Secrets'' with Sara Moulton, ''Ready, Set, Cook'', and ''FoodNation with Bobby Flay''. In 2005, he appeared on '' Iron Chef America'', where he lost to Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in Battle Asparagus. On August 27, 2007, Symon appeared in the "Cleveland, OH" episode of the television series '' Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations''. While competing in the

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

TV series ''

The Next Iron Chef ''The Next Iron Chef'' is a limited-run series on the Food Network that aired its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program '' Iro ...

'', he reported on his experiences for '' Fortune'', posted on CNN Money. On November 11, 2007, after a head-to-head match against John Besh, Symon was declared the winner of the entire competition. On November 18, 2007, Symon won his first battle on '' Iron Chef America''. On April 21, 2008, the Food Network announced that Symon would take over as host of '' Dinner: Impossible'', the network's third most popular show. He hosted the show for ten episodes until host Robert Irvine was reinstated. Although it was not announced publicly, Symon knew it was a temporary gig "from the start."Crea, Joe
"Michael Symon exits 'Dinner: Impossible' -- and talks to us about it"
''The Plain Dealer'', November 21, 2008. He appeared along with several other Food Network stars on ''Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving Disasters'', a program dealing with dinner mishaps which first aired November 17, 2008. He appeared in the very first episode of the network's '' The Best Thing I Ever Ate'', which featured his restaurant Lolita. ''Cook Like an Iron Chef'', a

show starring Symon, debuted in July 2010. He described it as "a show for the people who've watched Food Network forever and are ready to learn something more advanced or more creative." The show ''Food Feuds'', which featured Symon, premiered October 10, 2010. He travels to various locales and performs a direct comparison competition between local food rivals. On February 14, 2011, Symon appeared in a skit on the late-night talk show '' Conan'', in which a young couple had won a "romantic" Valentine's Day dinner date on the set. Conan O'Brien announced that Symon would be presenting them with their dinner—which he did, in the form of a Taco Party Pack from

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, incl ...

. In September 2011, Symon began co-hosting '' The Chew'' on ABC networks, a daily

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk S ...

that is centered on food-related and lifestyle topics. Symon has been the host of the television series ''Burgers, Brew and 'Que'' since 2015. On December 14, 2021, Symon became the new host of '' Throwdown!'' on

which previously starred Bobby Flay.

Books

Symon was featured in fellow Clevelander Michael Ruhlman's 2001 book ''The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection''. The second part of the three-part book focuses on Symon's quest for culinary perfection. In 2009, Symon collaborated with Ruhlman to write his first cookbook ''Michael Symon's Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen''. () The foreword is written by fellow Iron Chef Bobby Flay. It was published by Clarkson Potter and was released on November 3, 2009. On September 25, 2012, another cookbook was released named ''The Chew: Food. Life. Fun.'' (), co-authored by Symon along with fellow Iron Chef Mario Batali, long-time Food Network producer Gordon Elliott, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, and

Daphne Oz Daphne Nur Oz (born February 17, 1986) is an American television host, food writer, and chef. She was one of five co-hosts on the ABC daytime talk show ''The Chew'' for the show's first six seasons and was a co-host of the syndicated talk/cooking ...

. Three weeks later, Symon and Cleveland food writer Douglas Trattner collaborated to release his second offering, "Michael Symon's Carnivore: 120 Recipes for Meat Lovers" (). Beginning in September 2012, the Chew crew began releasing seasonal

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

cookbooks with ''The Chew: Fall Flavors: More than 20 Seasonal Recipes from The Chew Kitchen,'' published by

Hyperion Books Hyperion Books can refer to: * Hachette Books, book publishing division formerly known as Hyperion Books * Disney-Hyperion, an imprint that was retained by Disney Publishing Worldwide when its division, Hyperion Books, was sold to Hachette USA publi ...

, which is a unit of ABC parent

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. It was followed up with ''The Chew: Winter Flavors'' in December 2012, while ''The Chew: Spring Flavors'' and ''The Chew: Summer Flavors'' were both released on April 23, 2013. ''The Chew: What's for Dinner'' (), was released on September 24, 2013, by

, and is the second book based on the hot ABC television show. The cookbook features 100 easy recipes for every night of the week provided by Symon along with his co-hosts. In this cookbook, Symon provides quick and easy recipes for chicken marsala, angel hair caprese, and many others. He also shares tips on how to cook scallops restaurant-style. Onter cookbooks include ''5 in 5: 5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners'' (2013), ''5 in 5: 5 for Every Season'' (2015), ''Michael Symon's Playing with Fire'' (2018), and ''Fix It with Food'' (2019). These were all co-authored by Douglas Trattner.

Product line and endorsements

In 2008, Symon began working as a "spokeschef," representing cookware companies Vitamix an
Calphalon
appearing at housewares shows and other demonstration events.Walker, Lyndsey

''Inside Business'', January 1, 2008. In 2011, Symon partnered with kitchenware company Weston Products on his official specialty kitchen product line, the Michael Symon Live to Cook Collection by Weston. In 2012, and again in 2013, Symon was paired with actress

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, and director. After a number of guest roles on several television series, she was recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytim ...

for a promotion for

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the man ...

's Lay's potato chip called "Do Us A Flavor." The promotion encourages consumers to submit new flavor ideas and fans vote for their favorite on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

. The person who creates the winning flavor is awarded $1 million or one percent of chip flavor's net sales.

Awards and honors

*1995 - named Cleveland's Hottest Chef by ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

Sunday Magazine''Ruhlman, Michael
"The Lola Moment"
''Cleveland Magazine'', November 2006. *2007 - Iron Chef winner *2007 - named Best Local Chef by Cleveland Magazine *2009 - James Beard Foundation Award - "Best Chef Great Lakes" *Three-time winner -

Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival The Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival is an annual five-day event in Miami Beach, Lincoln Road, typically in mid-February. The event showcases wine, spirits, chefs, and culinary personalities. The five-day event consi ...

Best Burger Award (2010, 2011, 2012)" *2015 -

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host (shared with his co-hosts on ''The Chew''). *Street in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood named "Michael Symon Corner" in his honor.

Personal life

Symon is married to Liz Symon, who has also been a collaborator on his restaurants. Symon has an adult son named Kyle, who was two years old when Michael and Liz married.Kyle is an avid ''Magic: The Gathering'' trading card game playe
Iron Chef Michael Symon Settles Food Feuds
''Rock 'n Roll Ghost'', October 27, 2010.