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Todd English

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Todd English
Born
William Todd English

(1960-08-29) August 29, 1960 (age 64)
Amarillo, Texas
Alma materCulinary Institute of America
Occupation(s)Restaurateur, celebrity chef, writer
SpouseOlivia Disch English (divorced)
Children3

William Todd English (born August 29, 1960) is a celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He is best known for his restaurant, Olives, located in both Boston (now closed) and Las Vegas, plus his TV cooking show, Food Trip with Todd English, on PBS. In 2005 he was a judge on the PBS show Cooking Under Fire.

His life and career received a chapter in Super Chef by Juliette Rossant who had written previously about English for the Forbes Celebrity 100 list.[1]

Todd English also works as lead chef for Delta Air Lines (US).

Early life and career

English was born in Amarillo, Texas, grew up in Sandy Springs, Georgia and later Branford, Connecticut.[2] He matriculated at Guilford College in North Carolina on a baseball scholarship, but quit and entered the Culinary Institute of America in 1978 and graduated in 1982.[3][4]

He worked under Jean-Jacques Rachou at New York's La Cote Basque,[3] and then moved to Italy to work at several restaurants there.[5]

He returned to the United States at age 25 and served as the executive chef of the Italian restaurant Michela's in Cambridge, Massachusetts for three years before opening the original Olives restaurant in 1989.[3]

Personal life

English has been married once, to Olivia Disch English, his classmate at the Culinary Institute of America,[3] but they divorced. They have three children.

He was engaged to Erica Wang, and a ceremony was planned. However, the wedding was cancelled in situ in 2009.[6][7][8]

Restaurants

Olives

English's first restaurant, Olives, opened in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston in April 1989. The restaurant's name is a tribute to his then-wife, Olivia. The food is "rustic Mediterranean," with a strong influence from Italian cuisine. The restaurant was named Best New Restaurant by Boston magazine, and has been honored as Best Food and Top Table by Gourmet magazine. Olives is known for two signature desserts – a molten chocolate cake and a vanilla bean soufflé – which must be ordered with the main meal. Olives has been cited by the Health Department for sanitation discrepancies and animal waste hazards.[9]

In May 2010 Olives was closed due to damage done by a grease fire.[10] This was the third time the Charlestown eatery was closed due to fire damage since 2001.[10][11]

In May 2012, the Charlestown Olives reopened.[12]

In June 2013, the Charlestown Olives closed for good. [13]

In February 2013, Olives opened in Mexico City.

The other two remaining Olives are currently at the five-star Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, and in New York City in Union Square which was recently renovated and under the direction of new executive chef Patrick Malone. He alternates between both Olives restaurants on a regular basis.

Figs

Figs is the name of two high-end pizzerias in the Boston area, one in the Beacon Hill neighborhood and another in Charlestown. Figs offers authentic, Neapolitan-style pizzas with very thin crusts, served on inverted sheet pans, as well as salads and pastas. Figs won the "Hot Concept" award from Nation's Restaurant News magazine.

Other restaurants

English's other restaurants include:

Books

English has authored or co-authored four cookbooks: The Olives Table, The Figs Table, The Olives Dessert Table, and Cooking in Everyday English, published by Simon & Schuster and Time Home Entertainment Inc..

Awards

In December 2012, the Todd English, P.U.B. restaurant in Las Vegas was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame.[16]

References

  • Rossant, Juliette (2004). Super chef: the making of the great modern restaurant empires. Free Press. pp. 89–140. ISBN 978-0743241717.
  1. ^ Rossant, Juliette (March 19, 2001). "Todd English". Forbes. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
  2. ^ Cf. Rossant (2004), p.91
  3. ^ a b c d Cf. Rossant (2004), p.95
  4. ^ Atkinson, Kim, "Being Todd English", Boston magazine, May 2006
  5. ^ "Great Chef Todd English", greatchefs.com
  6. ^ Landman, Beth (October 11, 2009). "Inside Todd English's canceled wedding". New York Post. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  7. ^ Keith, Amy Elisa (October 15, 2009). "Why Todd English Cancelled His Wedding". People Magazine. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  8. ^ Grace, Melissa, "'Top Chef' Todd English's ex-bride, Erica Wang, must take anger management classes and do community service if she wants assault charges dropped, a judge says.", The New York Daily News, Thursday, January 14, 2010
  9. ^ Traverso, Amy, "Reconsidering Todd English", Boston magazine, March 2009
  10. ^ a b Shanahan, Mark (May 29, 2010). "Olives plagued by another grease fire". The Boston Globe.
  11. ^ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith, "Licensing Board lights the fire under celebrity chef", The Boston Globe, July 1, 2011
  12. ^ Shanahan, Mark; Goldstein, Meredith, "Todd English says new and improved Olives set to reopen – officially", Boston Globe, May 9, 2012
  13. ^ http://www.boston.com/blogs/ae/restaurants/the-restaurant-hub/2013/06/has_olives_charlestown_closed.html
  14. ^ "Todd English's Faneuil Hall restaurant closed for good", Dirty Water News, Friday, May 11, 2012
  15. ^ Seven Days Aboard the Queen Mary 2, by Dwight Garner, New York Times, February 10, 2013
  16. ^ http://www.culinaryhalloffame.com/culinary-media/press-releases/2867-todd-english-pub-inducted
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