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robbreport.com
November 13, 2023
Robb Report's first annual ranking of the restaurant industry's most influential figures, as chosen by their peers.
In the world of fine dining, where creativity and commerce intermingle heavily, power is fluid. The ability to influence others may come from economic might, but for many, vision and innovation are what imbue people with power. While there are numerous lists trying to pinpoint who in the industry holds sway over others, we felt the best way to truly understand influence in American fine dining was to go directly to professionals throughout the industry and ask them what they thought.
So we called on more than 100 people from across the restaurant world—from Michelin-starred chefs to James Beard Award-winning restaurateurs to prominent investors to media members to CEOs of restaurant tech platforms—to tell us who they believed were the most powerful among their peers. We asked voters to not define fine dining too narrowly—as just tasting menus and overly formal service—because for us fine dining is about ambition in the kitchen paired with attentive hospitality in the dining room. And we encouraged voters to be expansive in how they thought about who held power: Perhaps it’s the chefs who most influence others creatively; the restaurateurs growing dining empires; the investors working behind the scenes to fund top talent; the real estate developers that can attract great restaurant groups; or the media figures who can drive or deter business with their opinions. Ultimately, we wanted to know who moves the needle creatively and economically.
With those parameters in mind, each voter was allowed to select 10 people they thought held the most power in the industry. In the instance of a voter believing a duo or trio’s influence was inextricably linked, they were allowed to group them as one entry on their ballot. We sought gender, racial, age, and geographic diversity in our voting body to give the best possible snapshot of the restaurant world right now.
As ballots began to roll in, we saw that the old guard of the industry was still holding strong in the minds of many people, with the first few slots of numerous ballots looking surprisingly similar. And despite gender parity in our voting body, perceptions of who holds power in the industry still skews male, with the number of men on the list greatly outnumbering the women. But as voting continued, we could also see a new class of young, diverse leaders emerge, showing a bright future for fine dining.
Here are the 50 most powerful people in American fine dining for 2023.
45) Erick Williams
Photo : Gary Adcock/Studio37
The first Black chef to win the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes, Erick Williams has become known for the Southern fine-dining experience he serves up at Chicago’s Virtue. Since that restaurant opened five years ago, Williams has been on a tear, launching three new concepts during the pandemic alone: Mustard Seed Kitchen, Daisy’s Po-Boy and Tavern, and Top This Mac N’ Cheese. The chef has used his skills in the kitchen to do good in his community, too, earning the Chicago mayor’s Medal of Honor for feeding frontline workers during the Covid-19 crisis and being a leading voice in the social-justice movement.
42) Mashama Bailey
Photo : Nydia Blas
In Savannah, Ga., Mashama Bailey and her business partner Johno Morisano have converted an old Greyhound Station built in the Jim Crow South into the Grey. Inside, Bailey cooks what she calls Port City Southern food, a cuisine that’s rooted in Southern ingredients but not closed off from the world that has passed through this old coastal town. Bailey draws on the meals she ate in her grandmother’s Georgia kitchen, along with training in New York and France. She has channeled the likes of Edna Lewis and has gone deep into the terroir and ingredients of the land around her. The result is a trip through cultures—like grits topped with foie gras, quail with creole sauce, and the Lowcountry rice dish perloo with okra. And she has become a public face of Southern fare with her own MasterClass and an episode of Chef’s Table devoted to her work. But she’s not staying just in the Peach State: Bailey has expanded to Austin and will open a restaurant in Paris, too.
33) Gregory Gourdet
Photo : Eva Kosmas Flores
Good luck getting a reservation at Gregory Gourdet’s Kann. When the chef’s wood-fired Haitian restaurant makes its bookings available, a whole month is snapped up in less than an hour. And for good reason. The restaurant and bar downstairs, Sousòl, have been racking up accolades since opening in 2022. An alum of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant group, Gourdet marries the technical proficiency he’s acquired in his career with flavors of his Haitian heritage. On top of the restaurant’s success, the chef has had a star turn as well. With appearances on Top Chef and other food shows, Gourdet has garnered a strong enough national fanbase to reach product-pitchman status; he has been featured in campaigns for dishwasher detergent, sparkling water, utensils, and more. His contemporaries are fans of his, too. He has not only won a James Beard Award for the best new restaurant in the country, but he has also taken home a Beard Award for his cookbook, Everyone’s Table.
27) Kwame Onwuachi
Photo : Andrew Bui
At just 33, Kwame Onwuachi may be one of the youngest people on our list, but then again, most of the people on this list haven’t had their hit memoir optioned by A24. Ever since Onwuachi made a star turn on Top Chef, the Per Se and Eleven Madison Park alum has had a spotlight on his career. Of course, the road was rocky early on. His first restaurant, the luxe Shaw Bijou in Washington, D.C., closed after just a few months. He came back strong, though, opening the hit Kith/Kin, a 96-seat restaurant where explored Afro-Caribbean cooking. His work there won him the James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef in 2019, but in the midst of the pandemic, he departed after three years. Eventually Onwuachi would make his way back to New York City where he opened Tatiana at Lincoln Center, one of the country’s most celebrated restaurant openings in the past year. He has charmed the Big Apple, creating a menu that explores the African diaspora while also cooking food that is a playful ode to his upbringing and the city.
============================
@invalid, ALL are alumni of Sheila Johnson's Family Reunion
The 50 Most Powerful People in American Fine Dining
Robb Report’s first annual ranking of the restaurant industry’s most influential figures, as chosen by their peers.
robbreport.com
November 13, 2023
The 50 Most Powerful People in American Fine Dining
Robb Report's first annual ranking of the restaurant industry's most influential figures, as chosen by their peers.
In the world of fine dining, where creativity and commerce intermingle heavily, power is fluid. The ability to influence others may come from economic might, but for many, vision and innovation are what imbue people with power. While there are numerous lists trying to pinpoint who in the industry holds sway over others, we felt the best way to truly understand influence in American fine dining was to go directly to professionals throughout the industry and ask them what they thought.
So we called on more than 100 people from across the restaurant world—from Michelin-starred chefs to James Beard Award-winning restaurateurs to prominent investors to media members to CEOs of restaurant tech platforms—to tell us who they believed were the most powerful among their peers. We asked voters to not define fine dining too narrowly—as just tasting menus and overly formal service—because for us fine dining is about ambition in the kitchen paired with attentive hospitality in the dining room. And we encouraged voters to be expansive in how they thought about who held power: Perhaps it’s the chefs who most influence others creatively; the restaurateurs growing dining empires; the investors working behind the scenes to fund top talent; the real estate developers that can attract great restaurant groups; or the media figures who can drive or deter business with their opinions. Ultimately, we wanted to know who moves the needle creatively and economically.
With those parameters in mind, each voter was allowed to select 10 people they thought held the most power in the industry. In the instance of a voter believing a duo or trio’s influence was inextricably linked, they were allowed to group them as one entry on their ballot. We sought gender, racial, age, and geographic diversity in our voting body to give the best possible snapshot of the restaurant world right now.
As ballots began to roll in, we saw that the old guard of the industry was still holding strong in the minds of many people, with the first few slots of numerous ballots looking surprisingly similar. And despite gender parity in our voting body, perceptions of who holds power in the industry still skews male, with the number of men on the list greatly outnumbering the women. But as voting continued, we could also see a new class of young, diverse leaders emerge, showing a bright future for fine dining.
Here are the 50 most powerful people in American fine dining for 2023.
45) Erick Williams
Photo : Gary Adcock/Studio37
The first Black chef to win the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes, Erick Williams has become known for the Southern fine-dining experience he serves up at Chicago’s Virtue. Since that restaurant opened five years ago, Williams has been on a tear, launching three new concepts during the pandemic alone: Mustard Seed Kitchen, Daisy’s Po-Boy and Tavern, and Top This Mac N’ Cheese. The chef has used his skills in the kitchen to do good in his community, too, earning the Chicago mayor’s Medal of Honor for feeding frontline workers during the Covid-19 crisis and being a leading voice in the social-justice movement.
42) Mashama Bailey
Photo : Nydia Blas
In Savannah, Ga., Mashama Bailey and her business partner Johno Morisano have converted an old Greyhound Station built in the Jim Crow South into the Grey. Inside, Bailey cooks what she calls Port City Southern food, a cuisine that’s rooted in Southern ingredients but not closed off from the world that has passed through this old coastal town. Bailey draws on the meals she ate in her grandmother’s Georgia kitchen, along with training in New York and France. She has channeled the likes of Edna Lewis and has gone deep into the terroir and ingredients of the land around her. The result is a trip through cultures—like grits topped with foie gras, quail with creole sauce, and the Lowcountry rice dish perloo with okra. And she has become a public face of Southern fare with her own MasterClass and an episode of Chef’s Table devoted to her work. But she’s not staying just in the Peach State: Bailey has expanded to Austin and will open a restaurant in Paris, too.
33) Gregory Gourdet
Photo : Eva Kosmas Flores
Good luck getting a reservation at Gregory Gourdet’s Kann. When the chef’s wood-fired Haitian restaurant makes its bookings available, a whole month is snapped up in less than an hour. And for good reason. The restaurant and bar downstairs, Sousòl, have been racking up accolades since opening in 2022. An alum of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant group, Gourdet marries the technical proficiency he’s acquired in his career with flavors of his Haitian heritage. On top of the restaurant’s success, the chef has had a star turn as well. With appearances on Top Chef and other food shows, Gourdet has garnered a strong enough national fanbase to reach product-pitchman status; he has been featured in campaigns for dishwasher detergent, sparkling water, utensils, and more. His contemporaries are fans of his, too. He has not only won a James Beard Award for the best new restaurant in the country, but he has also taken home a Beard Award for his cookbook, Everyone’s Table.
27) Kwame Onwuachi
Photo : Andrew Bui
At just 33, Kwame Onwuachi may be one of the youngest people on our list, but then again, most of the people on this list haven’t had their hit memoir optioned by A24. Ever since Onwuachi made a star turn on Top Chef, the Per Se and Eleven Madison Park alum has had a spotlight on his career. Of course, the road was rocky early on. His first restaurant, the luxe Shaw Bijou in Washington, D.C., closed after just a few months. He came back strong, though, opening the hit Kith/Kin, a 96-seat restaurant where explored Afro-Caribbean cooking. His work there won him the James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef in 2019, but in the midst of the pandemic, he departed after three years. Eventually Onwuachi would make his way back to New York City where he opened Tatiana at Lincoln Center, one of the country’s most celebrated restaurant openings in the past year. He has charmed the Big Apple, creating a menu that explores the African diaspora while also cooking food that is a playful ode to his upbringing and the city.
============================
@invalid, ALL are alumni of Sheila Johnson's Family Reunion
