- Michael Symon
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This article is about the chef. For the Australian Politician, see Mike Symon.
Michael Symon 
Born September 19, 1969
Cleveland, OhioEducation Culinary Institute of America Current restaurant(s)- Lola
Lolita
Roast
Bar Symon
The B Spot
Television show(s)- The Next Iron Chef
Iron Chef America
Dinner: Impossible
Food Feuds
Cook like an Iron Chef
The Chew
Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is a James Beard Foundation Award-winning American chef,[1] restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as Iron Chef America, Food Feuds, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate, as well as Cook Like an Iron Chef on the Cooking Channel and The Chew on ABC. He has also made numerous contributions to magazines and periodicals such as Bon Appétit, Esquire, Food Arts, Gourmet, Saveur and O, The Oprah Magazine.
Symon is credited as helping to "save" the restaurant scene in Downtown Cleveland.[2] He is the chef and owner of number of restaurants in the Greater Cleveland area, including his flagship Lola, Lolita, Bar Symon, and The B Spot. Additionally, he owns Michael Symon's Roast (also known as Roast) in Detroit, Michigan. Symon describes his cooking as "meat-centric."[3]
Contents
Early life
Symon was born in Cleveland, Ohio[4] and is of Greek, Italian, and Eastern European ancestry.[5][3][6] He was raised in North Olmsted, Ohio, attending St. Richard School in North Olmsted and St. Edward High School in Lakewood, graduating in 1987. A wrestler, he broke an arm during practice and was unable to continue competing. He took a part time job at Gepetto's Ribs on Warren Rd. as a cook.[7]
He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 1990.
Career
Chef and restaurateur
Symon worked the Cleveland restaurant scene, working at Player's, a Mediterranean restaurant in Lakewood. In 1993, he moved to Piccolo Mondo as chef, developing a small yet devoted following. He subsequently moved to Caxton Cafe.
Lola's patio on East 4th Street in downtown Cleveland
In February 1997, Michael and his then-fiancée (now wife), Liz Shanahan, opened Lola in Cleveland's trendy Tremont neighborhood. It is named after his aunt. The restaurant garnered rave reviews and was named one of America's Best Restaurants in Gourmet magazine in its October 2000 issue.[8] In 2005, he converted Lola into Lolita,[9] and reopened Lola in downtown Cleveland the next year.
On April 15, 2006, Symon open a third restaurant, Parea, which in Greek means "a group of friends" or "company," in New York City.[10] The restaurant, which featured upscale Greek food and was located on East 20th Street near Park Avenue, was run by Jonathon Sawyer, who tutored under Symon at Lolita. It was located next door to the Gramercy Tavern. Symon partnered with Telly Hatzigeorgiou, George Pantelidis, and Peter J. Pappas.[11] Although he gave the food a 2-stars rating (very good), New York Times food critic Frank Bruni noted that the sound level reached "piercing heights."[12] By many accounts, the food was good, as the restaurant was even listed on "100 Tastes to Try in ’07" in Food & Wine magazine.[13] However, the New York restaurant scene considered his flavors not "vibrant" enough, and it was chided that it "might improve after Mr. Symon gets more experience in the New York restaurant world."[14] It closed in 2007, and was acquired by Stavros Aktipis who renamed it Kellari's Parea.
Symon opened Roast, a restaurant at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan in autumn 2008.[3] Roast was named the 2009 Restaurant of the Year by the Detroit Free Press.[15]
He opened a restaurant on July 1, 2009, called Bar Symon in Avon Lake, Ohio featuring casual concepts on tavern food. Soon after, he opened a similarly themed restaurant named The B Spot in Woodmere, Ohio.
In October 2009, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that Symon would contribute menu items to be prepared by foodservice firm Aramark at the Quicken Loans Arena. Two existing restaurants were renamed after Symon's bar-bistros, Bar Symon and The B-Spot, and some of his signature dishes were made available as suite catering offerings.[16]
On October 19, 2010, Symon announced that he would be closing the Avon Lake location of Bar Symon.[17] He later announced two more The B Spot locations, one in Strongsville (opened April 6, 2011) and another in Westlake (late 2011).[18]
Media appearances
He often appears on behalf of Food Network. During the summer of 2009, he promoted the Food Network's videogame Cook Or Be Cooked for Nintendo Wii, which was released on November 3, 2009.[19][20]
Symon was one of the rotating hosts of Food Network's show Melting Pot. He appeared on Sara's Secrets with Sara Moulton, Ready, Set, Cook, and FoodNation with Bobby Flay. In 2005, he appeared on Iron Chef America, where he lost to Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in Battle Asparagus.[21]
On August 27, 2007, Symon appeared in the "Cleveland, OH" episode of the television series Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
While competing in the reality competition TV series The Next Iron Chef, he reported on his experiences for Fortune, posted on CNN Money.[22] On November 11, 2007, after a head-to-head match against John Besh, Symon was declared the winner of the entire competition. On November 18, 2007, Symon won his first battle on Iron Chef America.[23]
On April 21, 2008, the Food Network announced that Symon would take over as host of Dinner: Impossible, the network's third most popular show.[24] He hosted the show for ten episodes until host Robert Irvine was reinstated. Although it was not announced publicly, Symon knew it was a temporary gig "from the start."[25]
He appeared along with several other Food Network stars on Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving Disasters, a program dealing with dinner mishaps which first aired November 17, 2008.[26] He appeared in the very first episode of the network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate, which featured his restaurant Lolita.
Cook Like an Iron Chef, a Cooking Channel show starring Symon, debuted in July 2010. He described it as "a show for the people who've watched Food Network forever and are ready to learn something more advanced or more creative."[27]
Symon's latest show, Food Feuds, premiered October 10, 2010. He travels to various locales and performs a direct comparison competition between local food rivals.
Symon works as a "spokeschef," representing cookware companies Vita-Mix and Calphalon, appearing at housewares shows and other demonstration events.[28]
On February 14, 2011, Symon appeared in a skit on the late-night talk show Conan, in which a young couple had won a "romantic" Valentine's Day dinner date on the set. Conan O'Brien announced that Symon would be presenting them with their dinner—which he did, in the form of a Taco Party Pack from Taco Bell.[29]
Books
Symon was featured in fellow Clevelander Michael Ruhlman's 2001 book, The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection. The second part of the three-part book focuses on Symon's quest for culinary perfection.
In 2009, Symon collaborated with Ruhlman to write his first cookbook, Michael Symon's Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen (ISBN 978-0307453655). The foreword is written by fellow Iron Chef Bobby Flay. It was published by Clarkson Potter and was released on November 3, 2009.
Product Line
In 2011, Michael partnered with kitchenware company Weston Products on his official specialty kitchen product line, the Michael Symon Live to Cook Collection by Weston.[30]
Awards and honors
In 1995, The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine named Symon as Cleveland’s hottest chef.[2]
He was named a National Rising Star in 1997 by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine.[8] In 1998, he was named one of the Ten Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine magazine.[31]
In 2006, Symon was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award in the "Best Chef Great Lakes" category. He would be nominated again in 2009, finally winning the prestigious award. It was one of the few moments when Symon was "speechless."
In 2007, Cleveland Magazine named him Best Local Chef for Lola and Lolita.
In 2010, the "Fat Doug" hamburger was named top burger at the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival, beating out a burger from Bobby Flay as the "best burger in America."[32] The burger, which is topped with pastrami, Swiss cheese and coleslaw on a brioche bun, is featured on the menu at The B Spot.
Personal life
Symon is married to Liz Shanahan, who has also been a collaborator on his restaurants. Symon has an adult stepson[33], Kyle, who was two years old when Symon and Shanahan met.[34]
References
- ^ 2009 James Beard Award Winners
- ^ a b Ruhlman, Michael. "The Lola Moment", Cleveland Magazine, November 2006.
- ^ a b c Article[dead link], Detroit Free Press
- ^ Miller, Bryan. CHOICE TABLES; In Cleveland, Industrial Chic And Inventive Chefs, The New York Times, 2 January 2000.
- ^ Chef Michael Symon interviewed by CoolCleveland.com
- ^ Michael Symon's Live to Cook profile at Random House Canada
- ^ Food Network: Michael Symon, Biography
- ^ a b Fabulous Food Show bio
- ^ Cicora, Elaine T. "The Lola Effect", Scene. 2005-12-28.
- ^ Raisfeld, Robin; Rob Patronite. "Restaurant Openings and Buzz", New York Magazine, 1 May 2006.
- ^ Lape, Bob. "Parea does small with style", Crain's New York Business, 31 July 2006.
- ^ Bruni, Frank. "From Delphi, by Way of Cleveland", The New York Times, 5 July 2006.
- ^ "100 Tastes to Try in '07", Food & Wine, January 2007.
- ^ Healy, John. "Restaurant Review: Parea", The Epoch Times, 27 May 2006.
- ^ Rector, Sylvia. "Michael Symon's Roast heats up Detroit", Detroit Free Press, 20 April 2009.
- ^ Acclaimed Chef Michael Symon Brings His Signature Menu to Quicken Loans Arena, in Partnership with Cleveland Cavaliers and ARAMARK[dead link], The Quicken Loans Arena, 2 October 2009. accessed 8 October 2009.
- ^ Michael Symon will close Bar Symon restaurant in Avon Lake, cleveland.com, October 2010. accessed October 19, 2010.
- ^ Crea, Joe. Michael Symon's third B Spot will land at Westlake's Crocker Park: Restaurant Row, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 15 February 2011. accessed February 22, 2011.
- ^ K, Sharon. "Michael Symon Promotes New Wii Game 'Cook Or Be Cooked'", The Cook's Den, 16 August 2009.
- ^ Pardilla, Caroline. "Food Network’s Cook or Be Cooked Video Game Blogger Party", Caroline on Crack, 17 August 2009.
- ^ Episode IA0401, "Morimoto vs. Symon, 'Battle Asparagus'", Iron Chef America, 2005.
- ^ Symon, Michael (19 October 2007). "Choosing the next Iron Chef: Episodes 1 & 2". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/19/smbusiness/iron_chef_episode_2.fsb/.
- ^ Episode IASP07, 'Thanksgiving Battle'
- ^ Hirsch, J.M. "Food Network names new host of 'Dinner: Impossible'", USA Today, 21 April 2008.
- ^ Crea, Joe. "Michael Symon exits 'Dinner: Impossible' -- and talks to us about it", The Plain Dealer, 21 November 2008.
- ^ Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving Disasters, 17 November 2008.
- ^ Crea, Joe (April 21, 2010). "Chef Michael Symon TV show coming". The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio). http://www.cleveland.com/taste/index.ssf/2010/04/chef_michael_symon_to_host_tv.html. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ Walker, Lyndsey. "The next course: Iron Chef Michael Symon takes one thing at a time", Inside Business, 1 January 2008.
- ^ Conan O'Brien's Romantic Dinner Date: Taco Bell, Michael Symon, eater.com, 16 February 2011.
- ^ "Michael Symon's Live to Cook by Weston". Weston Products. http://michaelsymon.westonproducts.com. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ Best New Chefs - 1998 - Michael Symon, Food & Wine, July 1998.
- ^ AP ‘Fat Doug’ named top hamburger Iron Chef Michael Symon beats out Bobby Flay's creation, Today Show website, 26 February 2010. (accessed March 16, 2010)
- ^ Iron Chef America, "Battle Mozzarella; Symon vs. Hearst", 2011
- ^ Iron Chef Michael Symon Settles Food Feuds,[dead link] Rock 'n Roll Ghost, 27 October 2010.
External links
- Symon Says blog
- Symon's restaurants' websites
- Plain Dealer profile
- Michael Symon at the Chef and Restaurant Database
Categories:- 1969 births
- American television chefs
- Culinary Institute of America alumni
- Food Network chefs
- American people of Greek descent
- Living people
- People from Cleveland, Ohio
- American restaurateurs
- St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio) alumni
- Lola
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