1. Marcus Samuelsson was born on Kassahun Tsegie; Amharic: ; 25 January 1971 and is an Ethiopian-born Swedish-American celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality.
38 Facts About Marcus Samuelsson
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Marcus Samuelsson is the head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.
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Marcus Samuelsson's father, Tsegie, is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church priest.
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Marcus Samuelsson's mother died in a tuberculosis epidemic when he was three years old.
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Marcus Samuelsson apprenticed in Switzerland and Austria then came to the United States in 1994 as an apprentice at Restaurant Aquavit.
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At 24, Marcus Samuelsson became executive chef of Aquavit and soon afterwards became the youngest ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from The New York Times.
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Marcus Samuelsson's 2006 African-inspired cookbook The Soul of a New Cuisine received the prize "Best International Cookbook" by the James Beard Foundation.
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Marcus Samuelsson is a Visiting Professor of International Culinary Science at the Umea University School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts in Sweden.
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Marcus Samuelsson was a member of the Spitkicker artist collective in the early 2000s, which had strong hip-hop roots.
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Marcus Samuelsson's cooking combines international influences with traditional cuisines from Sweden to Japan and Africa.
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On 24 November 2009, Marcus Samuelsson served as the guest chef for the first state dinner of the Barack Obama presidency.
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Marcus Samuelsson reportedly sought to combine sustainable and regional foods which reflect the best in American cuisine yet evoke the flavors of India.
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Harvesting fresh vegetables and herbs from the White House Garden, Marcus Samuelsson included red lentil soup, roasted potato dumplings, and green curry prawns on his menu.
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Marcus Samuelsson is an advisor to The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.
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In spring 2015, Marcus Samuelsson opened his second Harlem restaurant, Streetbird Rotisserie, a kitchenette with a menu inspired by cookouts focusing on fried and rotisserie chicken, and decor paying tribute to the hip-hop culture of Harlem.
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In fall 2023, Marcus Samuelsson opened a new restaurant, "Metropolis", inside the new Perelman Performing Arts Center in downtown New York City, next to Ground Zero.
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Marcus Samuelsson has been featured on television including on CNN, MSNBC's The Dylan Ratigan Show; he has been a judge on Guy's Grocery Games, Top Chef, Iron Chef USA, Iron Chef America, and Chopped making frequent guest appearances on Today.
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Marcus Samuelsson previously hosted his own television shows, The Inner Chef and Urban Cuisine.
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Marcus Samuelsson was a judge on the TV One show My Momma Throws Down.
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Marcus Samuelsson won the competition, earning $115,000 for UNICEF's grassroots effort The Tap Project.
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Marcus Samuelsson was eliminated in the fifth episode, finishing in sixth place.
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Marcus Samuelsson was awarded the grand prize of $50,000 for his charity, the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program.
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Marcus Samuelsson is a regular guest judge on Food Network shows Chopped, Chopped Junior, Beat Bobby Flay, Cooks vs Cons, The Kitchen, and Star Plates.
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On 28 June 2012, Marcus Samuelsson was the subject of an extensive interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR.
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Marcus Samuelsson appeared on 8 October 2016 in an episode of the radio show Wait Wait.
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Marcus Samuelsson appeared on the Another Round podcast in June 2017.
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In 2016, Marcus Samuelsson began making occasional appearances in videos produced for BuzzFeed's Tasty video series mostly providing food demonstrations as well as making a guest appearance in an episode of BuzzFeed's flagship food series Worth It in a segment filmed at Red Rooster where his fried chicken was declared series creator Steven Lim's personal "Worth It winner".
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In May 2017, Marcus Samuelsson appeared in the final episode of Undercover Boss to find and mentor new culinary talent.
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On 22 April 2019, Marcus Samuelsson appeared on Top Chef Canada Season 7, Episode 4 as a guest judge for a Nordic ingredients challenge.
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On 13 October 2020, Marcus Samuelsson was introduced as the global brand advisor for Bon Appetit.
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In July 2018, Marcus Samuelsson premiered a six-part series called No Passport Required on PBS.
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Marcus Samuelsson is both the host and executive producer of the series.
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In 2012, Marcus Samuelsson released Yes, Chef a memoir co-written with journalist Veronica Chambers about Marcus Samuelsson's early life and trajectory to becoming a chef.
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In interviews about the book, Marcus Samuelsson describes the book as a means to share the Black experience in food history.
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Marcus Samuelsson has an adult daughter; he supported her financially but did not otherwise participate in her upbringing.
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Marcus Samuelsson serves on the board at City Harvest and serves as co-chair of the board of directors for Careers Through Culinary Arts Program.
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Marcus Samuelsson has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2000, and he and his wife are the co-founders of the Three Goats Organization.
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Marcus Samuelsson is a keen football fan and an avid supporter of Arsenal FC.