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Virtual Cook & Chat with Gail Simmons
Top Chef judge Gail Simmons won't be able to critique your cooking, but she will be able to guide you through some of the elevated recipes she has created for the home chef. While she cooks, she dishes on behind-the-scenes stories from her hit Bravo show Top Chef, and shares pantry essentials for every home chef.
Talking With My Mouth Full
When Gail Simmons first graduated from college, she felt hopelessly lost. All her friends were going to graduate school, business school, law school . . . but what was she going to do? Fortunately, a family friend gave her some invaluable advice-make a list of what you love to do, and let that be your guide. Gail wrote down four words: Eat. Write. Travel. Cook.
Little did she know, those four words would become the basis for a career as a professional eater, cook, food critic, magazine editor, and television star. Today, she's the host of Top Chef: Just Desserts, permanent judge on Top Chef and Special Projects Director at Food & Wine Magazine. She travels all over the world, eats extraordinary food, and meets fascinating people. She's living the dream that so many of us who love to cook and eat can only imagine. But how did she get there?
Based on her bestselling book, Talking with My Mouth Full, Gail shares follows her unusual and inspiring path to success, step-by-step and bite-by-bite. It takes the reader from her early years, growing up in a household where her mother ran a small cooking school, her father made his own wine, and family vacation destinations included Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East; through her adventures at culinary school in New York City and training as an apprentice in two of New York's most acclaimed kitchens; and on to her time spent assisting Vogue's legendary food critic, working for renowned chef Daniel Boulud, and ultimately landing her current jobs at Food & Wine and on Top Chef. She created a career that didn't even exist when she first started working toward it. With memorable stories and insights about the greatest (and worst) dishes she's eaten, foodie trends and beyond, Gail's presentations are a true feast.
Gail Simmons is a trained culinary expert, food writer, and dynamic television personality. Since the show’s inception in 2006, she has lent her expertise as a permanent judge on BRAVO’s Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series Top Chef, now in its 18th successful season. She is also the host of its newest spin-off, Top Chef Amateurs, set to premiere in 2021, as well as the host of Iron Chef Canada. She was previously head critic on Top Chef Masters and host of Top Chef Just Desserts, Bravo’s pastry-focused spinoff of the Top Chef franchise. From 2004 to 2019, Gail served as special projects director at FOOD & WINE.
In February 2012, she published her first book, Talking With My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater. Her first cookbook, Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating, was released in October 2017. Nominated for an IACP award for best general cookbook, it features recipes inspired by Gail’s world travels—all made with accessible ingredients and with smart, simple techniques for successful family meals and easy entertaining.
Gail is a weekly contributor to Dr. Oz’s "The Dish on Oz" and frequently appears on daytime television shows such as TODAY on NBC, Rachael Ray and The Talk, and was named the #1 Reality TV Judge in America by The New York Post.
Gail is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson College, co-founder of Bumble Pie Productions, and sits on the board of several organizations and advocates for many philanthropic endeavors, including City Harvest and Hot Bread Kitchen. She currently lives in New York City with her husband, Jeremy and their two children, Dahlia and Kole.
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