People

The cooks and writers behind the table.

Julia Child

The television teacher who brought classic French technique into American kitchens and made it feel achievable.

James Beard

The dean of American cooking, who argued that the country's own regional dishes deserved the same respect as France's.

Elizabeth David

The writer who taught postwar Britain to cook with olive oil, garlic, and the markets of the Mediterranean.

Craig Claiborne

The New York Times food editor who made restaurant criticism and global cooking a fixture of American newspapers.

M.F.K. Fisher

The essayist who wrote about appetite, memory, and scarcity with a clarity that made food writing literature.

Keith Floyd

The flamboyant television cook who took British viewers into the markets and kitchens of France with a glass in his hand.

Fanny Cradock

Britain's first television cook, whose imperious demonstrations and exacting French recipes taught a postwar generation to cook.

Patrick Clark

A pioneering Black American chef whose refined American cooking at the Hay-Adams and Tavern on the Green won national acclaim.

Richard Olney

The American writer who settled in Provence and wrote some of the most exacting and sensual books about French country cooking.

Bernard Clayton

The American journalist turned bread authority whose Complete Book of Breads became a standard for home bakers.

Jane Grigson

The food writer whose erudite columns and books restored English regional cooking to serious attention.

Justin Wilson

The Cajun raconteur and television cook who brought Louisiana gumbo, jambalaya, and a thick accent to national audiences.

Pierre Franey

The French chef who, with Craig Claiborne, taught Americans to cook elegant food in under an hour.

Laurie Colwin

The novelist and essayist whose Home Cooking columns celebrated small kitchens, plain food, and the pleasures of feeding people.

Clement Freud

The writer, broadcaster, and MP whose witty columns and books treated eating as one of life's serious pleasures.

Sheila Lukins

The co-founder of the Silver Palate and co-author of the cookbook that shaped American home entertaining in the 1980s.

Jeff Smith

The minister turned television cook whose Frugal Gourmet series made world cooking approachable and affordable.

Robert Carrier

The American-born restaurateur and writer who brought glamorous international dishes to British tables.

Lee Bailey

The food and lifestyle writer whose relaxed, beautifully photographed books taught Americans how to entertain simply.

Helen Corbitt

The chef who ran the Zodiac Room at Neiman Marcus and brought elegant, modern food to a Texas department store.