MANILA, Philippines - Who is the James Beard award-winning American chef who was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Council for Physical Fitness?
He was born in 1969 and is a 1992 graduate of Tufts University, where he received a BA in English, and also studied at the French Culinary Institute.
As chef at New York’s Blue Hill restaurant and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester, he practices a kind of close to the land cooking that is tied with with agriculture and stewardship of the earth.
As described in Chez Pim, “Stone Barns is only 45 mintues from Manhattan, but it might well be a whole different universe. A model of self-sufficiency and environmental responsibility, Stone Barns is a working farm, ranch, and a three-Michelin star restaurant. It’s a vision of a new kind of food chain.
His philosophy on food focuses on pleasure and thoughtful conservation — on knowing where the food on your plate comes from and the unseen forces that drive what we eat.
His efforts to forward the local cuisine movement are brought to the table at his flagship restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where seasonal produce grown and raised on-site are grilled over wood fuel from the nearby forests. In a talk at a TED Conference in 2010, he outlined his discovery of extensively farmed fish at Veta la Palma.
The trailblazing chef has spent the past decade observing farming communities around the globe while researching his book The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food (The Penguin Press), concluding that America’s cuisine needs an overhaul.
He has also written extensively on many food and agricultural policies in the New York Times, Gourmet, The Nation, Savuer, and Food and Wine. His writings pertain to a consciousness about the effects of everyday food choices and food sustainability.
He has received numerous culinary awards including James Beard’s Best Chef, New York in 2006 and Outstanding Chef in 2009. His efforts to create a consciousness about the effects of everyday choices to numerous projects with Harvard’s Center for Health and Global Environment, the Kellogg Foundation, and New York City’s Greenmarkets. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the most influential people in the world.
More recently, President Obama appointed him to serve on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.
* * *
Last week’s question: Who is the Korean American chef known for his Michelin-star Momofuku chain of restaurants and for being on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Persons list in 2010?
Answer: David Chan
Winner: John Isidro of Sitio Rizal, Alabang
* * *
Text your answer to 0905-3471998 with your name and address. One winner will be chosen through a raffle of texts with the correct answer. The winner will receive P2,000 worth of SM gift certificates for use at Our Home, SM Department Store, or SM Supermarket. They can claim their prize at Our Home in SM Megamall. Call the store manager at 634-1943. Bring photocopies of two valid IDs and a clipping of the Design Quiz issue in which you appear as winner.