Celebrity Chefs Who Are Going To Be Everywhere In 2023

Once restricted to hidden kitchen spaces, chefs now regularly step out of the background and break up with their traditional roles. Though some chefs-turned-celebrities existed before, the 20th century gave hardworking chefs a chance for stardom and fame. The term is not only designated for professional chefs but also applies to inexperienced home cooks who participate in numerous cooking competitions. With enough skill and personality, they can often get the same celebrity moniker.

The world is currently going through a food craze, which will probably continue into 2023, and food-related content will most likely be one of the most prolific and profitable media topics. This also includes celebrity chefs, who are one of the main reasons why cooking has become such an attractive and alluring profession. The expectations in 2023 are high, and we hope to see more diversity and chefs who step away from entrenched practices by bringing new flavors, ideas, and life to the industry.

This celebrity round-up will include some old favorites that continually impress us with their creativity and several new names that have just earned their celebrity chef title. All of them are expected to get more coverage and attention in 2023, and you will most likely see their features on the most important food channels and media outlets.

Sohla El-Waylly became known as one of the favorite chefs at Bon Appétit's Test Kitchen, but this immensely creative chef, food writer, and producer had a long and prolific career before she joined Bon Appétit's staff. According to Vulture, El-Waylly finished two years of culinary school and gained experience at top NYC restaurants. Her time at Bon Appétit might have been productive, but it had a very bitter ending that was preceded by a series of racist accusations and a shocking revelation regarding significant pay discrepancies among the Test Kitchen staff. El-Waylly openly spoke against the discriminatory system in which she was given a supporting role despite her rich experience. In 2020, per Business Insider, El-Waylly, Rick Martínez, and Priya Krishna decided to leave Bon Appétit permanently.

As it turned out, this boosted El-Waylly's career. Since then, she has been a part of numerous successful projects, starting with a collaboration with Andrew Rea from Babish Culinary Universe on the "Stump Sohla" series and a recipe column "Off-Script With Sohla" published at Food52. In 2022, El-Waylly and her husband, Ham El-Waylly, have been hosting a massively popular "Mystery Menu" series for New York Times. In addition, El-Waylly appeared on the History Channel and is a host judge on HBO's "The Big Brunch" cooking competition. On top of that, according to the official website, 2023 will see more of Sohla El-Waylly as she plans to release her first cookbook in the fall.

Rick Martínez, one of the biggest authorities on authentic Mexican cuisine in the U.S., grew up in Austin, Texas. As a second-generation American, Martínez learned to cook with his food-loving parents, influenced by the food tradition of the American South, Tex-Mex fare, and his family's recipes. As he grew older, he wanted to explore and connect to his Mexican heritage through cooking. The final result was "Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico," a colorful, hefty cookbook published in 2022 that holds all of his favorites. Martínez roamed through all 32 Mexican states in search of authentic flavors and derived inspiration for his collection of recipes. The book explores regional differences and is an homage to Mexican culinary heritage. 

Martínez is big on color, flavor, and personality, which all translate well through the screen. Known for his warm character and the ease with which he explains detailed recipes, he has been recognized as one of the most lovable celebrity chefs. Martínez keeps busy with numerous appearances in TV shows and collaborations with some of the biggest media outlets. His latest feature for the New York Times includes a selection of his favorite Mexican-inspired recipes and a stunning video on making the spectacular mole negro. He currently hosts "Sweet Heat" at Food52, partners with Babish Culinary Universe on the "Pruébalo" series, and collaborates with Food Network. Judging by this, Martínez surely has more things cooking for 2023.

José Andrés is not only a culinary giant but a humanitarian legend. This Spanish-born chef has a well-established reputation as one of the leading experts in the culinary world. His journey started in Spain, where he worked under the legendary Ferran Adrià, and later took him stateside and eventually around the globe. Andrés currently runs many restaurants, including Washington, D.C. minibar José Andres, which was awarded two Michelin stars. He also owns more casual establishments like Pepe, Butterfly, and Beefsteak. Apart from his cooking expertise, Andrés' World Central Kitchen program, which started in 2010, has since helped in countless emergencies by providing human resources and technical support.

Along with other business endeavors, Andrés will grace our TV screens in a food-related documentary that will follow the entire Andrés family as they eat and drink their way through the chef's native Spain. The series will feature appearances from friends and local experts who will introduce Spanish culinary traditions to the Andrés family and their audience. The series starts streaming on December 27th, and you can catch it on Discovery+. If you miss Andrés on his reality series, you will undoubtedly see his familiar face on some of the daily shows or catch some of his regular public appearances, whether they are related to his reputable chef career or the praise-worthy work with his nonprofit humanitarian organization.

Eric Kim started his culinary journey at Food Network, where he worked as a digital manager. He perfected his craft at Saveur and Food52. "Table For One" was his massively successful weekly column at Food52 that gained him a large fan base. Kim steps away from the traditional image of a celebrity chef. He is not loud or extravagant but leaves the dishes to speak of his immense creativity. His writing is deep, often personal, and reflective, which was recognized by the leading food outlets that publish his food-related articles and essays.

Kim is now a writer and a columnist at the New York Times, where he shares trusted recipes that combine tradition and contemporary trends and range from American classics to Asian-inspired dishes. The year 2022 was a widely successful one for Kim as he published his long-awaited first cookbook. "Korean American" is a collection of recipes, memories, and stories that Kim uses to reconnect to his dual heritage. It is a somewhat intimate culinary journey through the experience of a Korean American family. The cookbook got a lot of favorable press — Barnes & Noble named it one of the best cookbooks of the year. It was also a New York Times bestseller this year, which further cemented Kim's position as one of the most influential young chefs who will certainly write more columns and get plenty of media coverage in 2023.

Claire Saffitz, aka Dessert Person, is a familiar face to anyone who considers themselves an avid baker. Saffitz got her media break as a senior editor at Bon Appétit. She spent five years at Bon Appétit's test kitchen, and you've most likely first seen her as a host to the widely popular "Gourmet Makes" series, in which Saffitz recreates our favorite store-bought products, relying on classic techniques and high-quality ingredients to create a supreme version of them. When she broke off from Bon Appétit, desserts became her mission and the focal point of her creative recipes.

Her first book, "Dessert Person," published in 2020, was a bestseller that year, earning praise from amateurs and pastry pros such as Dorie Greenspan and David Lebovitz. Since then, she has been featured by the leading cooking channels and has made videos for the NYT Cooking section and Vice's Munchies. Saffitz continually publishes her recipes on her cooking channel — appropriately named Dessert Person — where she shares her creative sweets with more than one million subscribers. On top of all her sweet activities, in November 2022, Saffitz released her second cookbook, "What's for Dessert," a collection of more than 100 recipes that answer that oh-so-common question. The book was a New York Times bestseller, which immediately implies that Saffitz will certainly get more media attention in 2023.

Yotam Ottolenghi has long been on the culinary scene and needs little introduction, but despite his veteran status, he shows no signs of slowing down. Ottolenghi specializes in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. He continually introduces novel techniques and familiarizes cooking enthusiasts with unusual flavors, which are then regularly implemented in the standard culinary narrative. But Ottolenghi is not merely a chef; he is the head of an entire culinary empire that includes a series of London-based restaurants and shops.

The chef is heavily featured in some of the most important publications. He has been running a weekly column in The Guardian for over 15 years and is a monthly contributor to the New York Times. Along with his trusted associates, he diligently tests and films all the recipes for the widely popular Ottolenghi's Test Kitchen YouTube channel, and the team released the second Test Kitchen cookbook in the fall of 2022. "Extra Good Things" is a collection of vegetable-centered meals that give all and "a little extra." Ottolenghi also has a Masterclass series consisting of 26 video lessons that give insight into contemporary Middle Eastern cuisine and provide accompanying flavor-packed recipes. Along with all his business endeavors and very loyal fan base, 2023 will be the year where we will certainly see more of chef Ottolenghi and his creative recipes. The chef will start the year with an Australian tour, but who knows what else he has in store by the end of the year.

J. Kenji López-Alt is a man who brought science to cooking and then made it interesting. López-Alt has it all: bestselling cookbooks and a YouTube channel with more than 1.3 million subscribers. In 2016, he won a James Beard award for the best cookbook in the General Food category for "The Food Lab," a detailed cooking guide filled with classic recipes that have been reinterpreted with contemporary techniques, all backed up by scientific explanations. Though it was published in 2015, "The Food Lab" is still relevant and has an impressive 4.9 rating on Amazon.

Along with other contributions and appearances, López-Alt is a food columnist at the New York Times and continues to act as the culinary consultant at Serious Eats, where he first started as a recipe developer. In 2022, he published "The Wok: Recipes and Techniques," a collection of more than 200 recipes paired with general cooking tips. Unsurprisingly, the book became a bestseller, and several media outlets, including Vice and Tasting Table, named it one of the best cookbooks in 2022. On top of that, he still posts on his massively successful YouTube channel, where he cooks various dishes and uses a slightly unconventional shooting technique — he films the entire process with a GoPro strapped around his head, offering an entirely new perspective on cooking. All things considered, it seems that López-Alt shows no signs of slowing down, and we'll surely see more of him next year.

Marcus Samuelsson's biography is remarkable. The Ethiopian-born chef was adopted by a Swedish family, and after finishing culinary school and training in Europe, he found his home in New York City. He got his first break at Aquavit, a Swedish restaurant where he first became an executive chef (via CNBC). According to his official website, Samuelsson now runs several restaurants in and outside the U.S. He was the youngest chef in history to get the ultimate three-star review by the New York Times, and he has already collected eight James Beard awards. Apart from his restaurant business, Samuelsson is no stranger to TV screens. He hosted a successful food travel show on PBS, "No Passport Required," and frequently made guest appearances in various cooking competitions.

Samuelsson is one of the veterans on this list, but you will certainly see and hear more of him in 2023. The chef opened a new Chelsea-based restaurant in the fall of 2022. He named the restaurant Hav & Mar, which can roughly be translated as ocean (from Swedish) and honey (from Amharic). The restaurant combines Samuelsson's roots with sustainability and honors and celebrates diversity. Samuelson also appeared on Netflix's "Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend," and in November, he released the first season of a new food podcast together with Jonathan Waxman. "Seat At The Table" looks into legendary American restaurants and hosts some of the biggest American chefs, such as Thomas Keller and Nancy Silverton.

You most likely remember Kristen Kish from Bravo's "Top Chef." Kish participated and won in Seattle-based Season 10, which premiered in 2012. She has since become a prominent name in the industry and a beloved TV personality. According to Bravo TV, she started her culinary journey at Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago and crafted her skill at some of the finest Boston restaurants. After her success with "Top Chef," Kish has had a series of business endeavors; she published "Kristen Kish Cooking" (2017), a cookbook that celebrates the mélange of culinary influences that inspired her throughout her private and professional life, and runs a successful Austin-based Arlo Grey.

Along with culinary accomplishments, Kish also gets a lot of screen time. She hosted the food and travel show "36 Hours" and participated in "Fast Foodies," which hosted celebrities and recreated their favorite fast food snacks. Her latest appearance was in "Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend," but instead of cooking, Kish was one of the hosts, along with the legendary Alton Brown. It seems that Kish wants to steer her career toward food and traveling. As Variety reported, she will host an entirely new National Geographic show titled "Restaurants at the End of the World," in which she will take the audience to some of the most remote dining experiences. Kish continually publishes bits and pieces from the show on her Instagram and has announced the premiere of the new show in 2023.

Curtis Stone is a familiar face and the true epitome of a celebrity chef. Born and raised in Australia, Stone has found his private and professional haven in Los Angeles. He cites his mother and grandmother as his biggest inspirations and the most important cooking teachers. His professional career started in Melbourne, but it flourished in London, where Stone worked for the legendary Marco Pierre White, who appointed him as head chef of his London-based Quo Vadis. Since then, the chef has not looked back. He now runs three restaurants, including Michelin-starred Maude and Gwen, and apart from that, he has a budding screen career.

Stone's affair with television started with "Surfing the Menu," a TV show exploring the richness of Australian cuisine. It continued with "Take Home Chef," which brought him to the States, and he hasn't stopped appearing in the media ever since, as a cooking expert and a guest or as host of his food and travel shows (via IMDB). His latest appearance was in the "Iron Chef" reboot, the "Quest for an Iron Legend." In an exclusive interview with Mashed, he shared his experience, confirming that this is the most competitive and challenging cooking competition in which he participated. Stone has yet to make official announcements for the following year, but this fame-loving chef will certainly not step away from the spotlight, and we will surely see him sharing his skill, passion, and knowledge across all culinary channels and media outlets.