Marcus Samuelsson
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Marcus Samuelsson is a Swedish chef, born 1970 in Ethiopia, resident in the United States. He is the executive chef and co-owner of Aquavit restaurants in New York City and Minneapolis.
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[edit] Early life and career
Losing his mother to a tuberculosis epidemic at the age of three, Marcus Samuelsson was adopted by a Swedish couple. He studied at the Culinary Institute in Gothenburg, where he grew up, apprenticed in Switzerland and Austria, and came to the United States in 1991 as an apprentice at Aquavit. At twenty-four, Marcus became executive chef of Aquavit, and soon after that also the youngest ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from The New York Times. In 2003 he was named "Best Chef: New York City" by the James Beard Foundation. The same year he started a second New York restaurant, Riingo, serving Japanese-influenced American food, and published his first book in English.
He also oversees the "AQ Café" in the Scandinavia House and Henry at World Yacht in New York. During 2004 he also worked with the "Washington Square" restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a period of time.
Chef Samuelsson is an adjunct professor in meal sciences at Umeå University in Sweden. He is the author of several critically acclaimed cookbooks and has been featured in numerous publications, including Gourmet, Food & Wine, The New York Times and Bon Appetit. In addition, he has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, Martha Stewart Living Television, CNN and several additional television programs. He is a contributing editor to Savoy magazine. Samuelsson also has a television show of his own, "Inner Chef", on Discovery Home Channel.
On the philanthropic front, Samuelsson acts as the official spokesperson for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
Marcus Samuelsson's cooking combines international influences with traditional cuisines, from Sweden, to Japan, and Africa. He claims his first inspiration came from his grandmother, a professional cook.
[edit] Awards & achievements
- Global Leader for Tomorrow - World Economic Forum (Davos) (2003)
- Three Star Review - New York Times (May 2001)
- Appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador (2000)
- Rising Star Chef - James Beard Foundation (1999)
- Three-star restaurant review - The New York Times (1995)
- The Great Chefs of America - Culinary Institute of America
[edit] Publications
- Marcus Samuelsson, Aquavit And the New Scandinavian Cuisine, ISBN 0-618-10941-2
- Marcus Samuelsson, The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa, ISBN 0-7645-6911-2
