BEVERLY HILLS, CA, May 05, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Cat Cora has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Ms. Cora is a world-renowned celebrity chef, television host, author, philanthropist and restaurateur acclaimed for her Mediterranean and Southern fusion food with a global twist. Raised in a Greek-American home in Mississippi, she was exposed to a broad range of cuisines from a young age. In fact, some of her earliest memories were cooking with her mother and grandfather as well as smoking meat alongside her father. As a result, Ms. Cora quickly fell in love with cooking and with the energy of the restaurant industry.
Ms. Cora initially earned a Bachelor of Science in exercise physiology and biology from the University of Southern Mississippi. She subsequently graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with a Bachelor of Arts in culinary arts and chef training, with honors, in 1995. During this time, Ms. Cora received a great deal of support from her early mentor, culinary trailblazer Julia Child.
Ms. Cora trained in France in apprenticeships under luminaries George Blanc and Roger Verge and their 3-star Michelin restaurants before returning to the United States, working at Bistro Don Giovanni and the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company before being recruited as the executive chef of Postino of the East Bay. In 1999, she launched her own restaurant empire as the chief executive officer of Cat Cora Inc., establishing Cat Cora's Kitchen locations in Atlanta, Houston, Salt Lake City and San Francisco and Cat Cora's Taproom in Detroit in the years that followed. Furthermore, Ms. Cora opened CCQ, an extension of her brand focused on barbeque, in 2008 as well as Kouzzina by Cat Cora in Walt Disney World in 2009. Ms. Cora's ventures have also included Mesa Burger, a Santa Barbara burger bar, Ocean by Cat Cora in Singapore, and a range of quick-serve concepts included Olilo & Wicked Eats with more than 500 pop-up locations across the United States.
Cat Cora is also a woman who holds a series of "firsts" for women in the culinary industry.
In 2005, Ms. Cora made history as the first female Iron Chef, and later appeared on 10 seasons of "Iron Chef America" alongside a cast of such other celebrity chefs as Bobby Flay and series icon Masaharu Morimoto. She is also noted as the first female inductee to the American Academy of Chefs Culinary Hall of Fame. Likewise, Ms. Cora is proud to have helped break down barriers and shatter glass ceilings for women in the culinary arts.
In the media landscape, Ms. Cora has co-hosted a number of programs, including "Melting Pot," "Kitchen Accomplished," "Around the World in 80 Plates." "My Kitchen Rules" and "Family Food Fight." She has additionally appeared on dozens of broadcasts through multiple mediums of entertainment. A columnist for the Contra Costa Times, Ms. Cora has found success with her written works, having authored "Cat Cora's Kitchen" in 2004, "Cooking from the Hip" in 2007 and "Cat Cora's Classics with a Twist: Fresh Takes on Favorite Dishes" in 2010. She wrote her raw and remarkably candid memoir called Cooking as Fast as I Can: A Chef's Story of Food, Family and Forgiveness in 2015 and she released a children's book.
Ms. Cora is committed to utilizing her success as a platform for philanthropy. A nutritional spokesperson for UNICEF, she has excelled as the founder and president of Chefs for Humanity since 2004. Moreover, Ms. Cora was presented with a President's Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign. She started Little Kitchen Academy, a global cooking academy for 3 year olds to teens.
In 2018, Cat was also proud to be featured in the permanent collection of the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Museum's Kitchen Table exhibit in Meridian, Mississippi. In 2021, she received a star on the Walk of Fame in Mississippi.
Ms. Cora has been additionally active as an executive chef and contributor for Bon Appetit Magazine. She has been affiliated with the She Angels Foundation and SAG-AFTRA. Notably, Ms. Cora was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Volunteer Service Award from President Barack Obama.
About Marquis Who's Who®
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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