Marcus Samuelsson was born on Kassahun Tsegie; Amharic: 25 January 1971 and is an Ethiopian-born Swedish-American celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality.
34 Facts About Marcus Samuelsson
2.
Marcus Samuelsson is the head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.
3.
Marcus Samuelsson's father, Tsegie, is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church priest.
4.
Marcus Samuelsson's mother died in a tuberculosis epidemic when he was three years old.
5.
Marcus Samuelsson apprenticed in Switzerland and Austria then came to the United States in 1994 as an apprentice at Restaurant Aquavit.
6.
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.
7.
Marcus Samuelsson's 2006 African-inspired cookbook The Soul of a New Cuisine received the prize "Best International Cookbook" by the James Beard Foundation.
8.
Marcus Samuelsson is a Visiting Professor of International Culinary Science at the Umea University School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts in Sweden.
9.
Marcus Samuelsson's cooking combines international influences with traditional cuisines from Sweden to Japan and Africa.
10.
On 24 November 2009, Marcus Samuelsson served as the guest chef for the first state dinner of the Barack Obama presidency.
11.
Marcus Samuelsson reportedly sought to combine sustainable and regional foods which reflect the best in American cuisine yet evoke the flavors of India.
12.
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.
13.
Marcus Samuelsson is an advisor to The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.
14.
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.
15.
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.
16.
Marcus Samuelsson previously hosted his own television shows, The Inner Chef and Urban Cuisine.
17.
Marcus Samuelsson was a judge on the TV One show My Momma Throws Down.
18.
Marcus Samuelsson won the competition, earning $115,000 for UNICEF's grassroots effort The Tap Project.
19.
Marcus Samuelsson was eliminated in the fifth episode, finishing in sixth place.
20.
Marcus Samuelsson was awarded the grand prize of $50,000 for his charity, the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program.
21.
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.
22.
On 28 June 2012, Marcus Samuelsson was the subject of an extensive interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR.
23.
Marcus Samuelsson appeared on 8 October 2016 episode of the radio show Wait Wait.
24.
Marcus Samuelsson appeared on the Another Round podcast in June 2017.
25.
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".
26.
In May 2017, Marcus Samuelsson appeared in the final episode of Undercover Boss to find and mentor new culinary talent.
27.
On October 13,2020, Marcus Samuelsson was introduced as the global brand advisor for Bon Appetit.
28.
In July 2018, Marcus Samuelsson premiered a six-part series called No Passport Required on PBS.
29.
Marcus Samuelsson is both the host and executive producer of the series.
30.
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.
31.
In interviews about the book, Marcus Samuelsson describes the book as a means to share the Black experience in food history.
32.
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.
33.
Marcus Samuelsson has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2000, and he and his wife are the co-founders of the Three Goats Organization.
34.
Marcus Samuelsson is a keen soccer fan and an avid supporter of Arsenal FC.