Marcus Samuelsson

Marcus Samuelsson is the renowned chef behind many restaurants worldwide including Red Rooster in Harlem (NYC) and Overtown (Miami); Hav & Mar in Chelsea (NYC); Metropolis at PAC NYC; Marcus Bar & Grille in Atlanta and its Live! flagship at American Dream (NJ); and several MARCUS locations including the Bahamas, Montreal, and most recently Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Samuelsson was the youngest person to ever receive a three-star review from The New York Times and recently won a 2023 Emmy Award for the Short Form Program “My Mark.” He was tasked with planning and executing the Obama Administration’s first State Dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has won eight James Beard Foundation Awards as chef, author, and TV personality. Additionally, Samuelsson has won numerous competition shows including Top Chef Masters and Chopped All-Stars and appears regularly on those franchises as a judge. He also appeared as an Iron Chef on Netflix’s Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.

A committed philanthropist, Samuelsson is co-chair of Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) which focuses on underserved youth. Samuelsson also co-produces the annual week-long festival Harlem EatUp! started in 2016 and later expanded into an award-winning TV series EatUp!: NYC, aired annually since 2021. He is the recipient of the 2019 Vilcek Foundation Prize in Culinary Arts, awarded to immigrants who have made lasting contributions to American Society. In addition to The Rise, he is the author of multiple books including The New York Times bestselling memoir Yes, Chef and The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem.