Suzanne Goin is a chef and restaurateur from Los Angeles, California. As a restaurateur, she runs four restaurants in the Los Angeles area: The A.O.C., Lucques, and Tavern, which she runs with partner Caroline Styne, and The Hungry Cat, where she shares duties with her husband, David Lentz.^[1] As an award winning chef, she was named as one of Food & Wine Magazine's "best new chefs of 1999" ^[2] and was nominated for James Beard awards in 2003 and 2005.^[3] Her restaurants have been praised by Gourmet magazine, Bon Appétit and Los Angeles Times (which awarded Lucques three stars).^[4] In 2006 Goin won the James Beard award for Best Chef: California ^[5]

Career [edit]

When she was a high school senior at Marlborough School in Los Angeles she interned at Ma Maison just after the departure of Wolfgang Puck and after graduation enrolled in Brown University where she graduated with honors. Goin then worked at a series of highly successful restaurants including Alice Water's Chez Panisse, Todd English's Olives.^[6] In the early 1990s she traveled to France and worked with Alain Passard at his three star Arpege along with stints at Didier Oudill's two-star Pain and Patisserie Christian Pottier. After returning to Los Angeles in 1995 she spent two years at Mark Peel’s celebrated restaurant Campanile ending up as executive chef. Goin has won or been nominated for a total of 6 James Beard foundation awards.^[7]

Restaurants [edit]

In 1998, Suzanne Goin opened Lucques which won recognition from Food & Wine and Gourmet magazines and also won a James Beard nomination in 2006 for Outstanding Service.^[8] In 2002, she opened A.O.C. which won 3 stars from the Los Angeles Times. Her third restaurant, The Hungry Cat, opened in Hollywood in 2005. A casual seafood restaurant, it also received positive reviews.^[4] A second location in Santa Barbara opened in 2007. Her most recent venture with Caroline Styne, Tavern, opened in Brentwood in May 2009.^[9]

Media [edit]

Goin's cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques was published in late 2005. The next year the book was nominated for the James Beard Foundation's award for "Best Cookbook From a Professional Viewpoint".^[10] She has also made several television appearances including PBS's series Chef's Story and New York Times food critic Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.^[11]

References [edit]