Amanda Freitag: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|American chef and television personality (born 1972)}}

{{Infobox chef

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|05|11}}

| birth_place =New Jersey, U.S.

|education=[[The Culinary Institute of America]]| nationality = American

| known_for =

|restaurants=* Rise & Thyme, Dallas (2020–present)|prevrests={{plainlist}}* Vong New York, New York City (1989–1994),<br/>* Verbena, New York City (1994–?),<br/>* [[L'Arpège]], Paris (1999),<br/>* Cesca Enoteca & Trattoria, New York City (2003–?),<br/>* The Harrison, New York City (?–2010),<br/>* [[Empire Diner]], New York City (2014–2015)

{{endplainlist}}|television={{plainlist}}* [[Chopped (TV series)|Chopped]] (2009–present),<br/>* [[Iron Chef America: The Series]] (2009, 2012),<br/>* ''[[Unique Eats]]'' (2010–2013),<br/>* ''American Diner Revival'' (2015–2016) {{endplainlist}}| occupation = Celebrity chef, reality show judge

'''Amanda Freitag''' (born May 11, 1972) is an American [[celebrity chef]] and cookbook author. She is known for her frequent appearances on [[Food Network]] television programs and her work as a judge on television cooking competitions. She is based in New York City.

==Early life and education==

Freitag was raised in [[Cedar Grove, New Jersey]].<ref>Hyman, Vicki. [http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebrities/index.ssf/2009/11/umami_shmumami_next_iron_chef.html "Umami, shmumami: 'Next Iron Chef' says goodbye to Amanda Freitag"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', November 8, 2009. Accessed April 29, 2013. "Amanda Freitag apparently didn't have the umami (Japanese for deliciousness) to continue in 'The Next Iron Chef.' The Cedar Grove-raised chef, who also appears a judge on the Food Network's 'Chopped,' had made it all the way to the final four."</ref> She attended [[Cedar Grove High School (New Jersey)|Cedar Grove High School]], then known as Memorial High School, where her home economics teacher, Joan Levine, suggested that Freitag might be interested in attending the [[Culinary Institute of America]] (CIA).<ref>Rosenblum, Dan. [http://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/208949281_What_s_Amanda_Freitag_s_secret_ingredient__A_dash_of_Cedar_Grove.html "What's Amanda Freitag's secret ingredient? A dash of Cedar Grove"], ''Verona-Cedar Grove Times'', May 25, 2013. Accessed September 22, 2013. "However, her first taste in the cooking profession happened at Memorial High School (now Cedar Grove High School), when Freitag's home economics teacher told her about the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y."</ref> Freitag attended CIA at the Hyde Park location, graduating in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=September 12, 2016 |title='The Chef Next Door' at the CIA Copia |url=https://napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/the-chef-next-door-at-the-cia-copia/article_363c28f8-b3b3-5e34-9d7c-df1a98808204.html |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=Napa Valley Register |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Arumugam |first=Nadia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zKlCgAAQBAJ |title=Women Chefs of New York |date=2015-10-27 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-63286-077-4 |language=en}}</ref>

== Restaurant career ==

Following graduation in 1989, Freitag took a position at Vong New York working under chef [[Jean-Georges Vongerichten]]. In 1994, she left Vong to cook at Verbena, under chef Diane Forley. Freitag has stated that her time at Verbena was meaningful and she built important relationships,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=January 17, 2022 |title=Celebrity Chefs Share Their Ultimate Throwback Photos—Can You Guess Who Is Who? |url=https://people.com/food/celebrity-chef-throwback-photos/ |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=People magazine |language=en}}</ref> and where she first learned to focus on using local, organic ingredients. After Verbena, Freitag traveled to France and Italy, working for a short while at [[L'Arpège]] restaurant under chef [[Alain Passard]] in 1999.<ref name="urlAmandaBio">{{cite web |url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/amanda-freitag/bio/index.html |title=Amanda Freitag : Chefs : Food Network |access-date=2009-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820071406/http://www.foodnetwork.com/amanda-freitag/bio/index.html |archive-date=2011-08-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2003, Freitag and restaurateur [[Godfrey Polistina]] opened the [[Upper West Side]] restaurant ''Cesca Enoteca & Trattoria''.<ref name="restaurant-hospitality.com">{{Cite web |date=2020-09-17 |title=Chef Amanda Freitag and Hospitality Alliance to open seasonal café Rise & Thyme in Dallas |url=https://www.restaurant-hospitality.com/chefs/chef-amanda-freitag-and-hospitality-alliance-open-seasonal-caf-rise-thyme-dallas |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=Restaurant Hospitality |language=en}}</ref> Freitag was [[chef de cuisine]] at Cesca, before moving to an executive chef position at ''The Harrison''.<ref name="isbn0-470-04443-8">{{cite book |author=Mike Colameco |author-link=Mike Colameco |title=Mike Colameco's Food Lover's Guide to New York City |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-470-04443-8 }}</ref><ref name="urlAmanda Freitag Gleeful at the Harrison -- Grub Street: New York Magazines Food and Restaurant Blog">{{cite web |url=http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2008/04/amanda_freitag_gleeful_at_the.html |title=Amanda Freitag Gleeful at the Harrison -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog |access-date=2009-11-17}}</ref> On September 3, 2010, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that Freitag would be leaving the Harrison, and the restaurant's owner, Jimmy Bradley, will return as chef.

From January 2014 until July 2015, Freitag took over as executive chef of the [[Empire Diner]] in Manhattan, New York.<ref>{{cite web |last=Morabito |first=Greg |date=July10, 2015 |title=TV Fixture Amanda Freitag Leaves the Kitchen at Empire Diner |url=http://ny.eater.com/2015/7/10/8928895/amanda-freitag-empire-diner |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713031248/http://ny.eater.com/2015/7/10/8928895/amanda-freitag-empire-diner |archive-date=July 13, 2015 |access-date=January 31, 2016}}</ref>

In September 2020, Freitag and Kevin Lillis’ Hospitality Alliance opened the bistro ''Rise & Thyme'' in Dallas, Texas.<ref name="restaurant-hospitality.com"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shey |first=Brittanie |date=2020-09-14 |title='Chopped' Judge Amanda Freitag Debuts Her Downtown Dallas Restaurant This Month |url=https://dallas.eater.com/2020/9/14/21436212/chef-amanda-freitag-rise-and-thyme-downtown-dallas-restaurant-opening-september-2020 |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=Eater Dallas |language=en}}</ref>

=== Restaurants ===

==== Current ====

* ''Rise & Thyme'', Dallas (2020–present)

==== Former ====

{{Columns-list|

* Vong New York, New York City (1989–1994)

* Verbena, New York City (1994–?)

* [[Arpège (restaurant)|Arpège]], Paris (1999)

* Cesca Enoteca & Trattoria, Upper West Side, New York City (2003–?)

* The Harrison, New York City (?–2010)

* [[Empire Diner]], New York City (2014–2015)

}}

== Television appearances ==

Since 2009, Freitag has been a frequent judge on the culinary reality game show ''[[Chopped (TV series)|Chopped]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=11 Things You Didn't Know About Amanda Freitag |url=https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/shows/2013/03/amanda-freitag-chopped-all-stars |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=Food Network |language=en}}</ref>

In 2009, She battled [[Bobby Flay]] on ''[[Iron Chef America]]'' in “Battle: [[King crab|King Crab]]” (season 7, episode 10), with judges Keyshawn Johnson, [[Maggie Rodriguez]], and Domenica Catelli. She narrowly lost, with a score of 49 against Flay's 50 points. The judging was evenly matched, with the exception of Freitag having earned one point fewer in the "taste" category.<ref name="urlAmandaBio" /><ref name="urlIron Chef America: Iron Chef Bobby Flay vs. Amanda Freitag Episode Recap on TV.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/iron-chef-america/iron-chef-bobby-flay-vs.-amanda-freitag/episode/1257620/recap.html?tag=episode_recap;recap |title=Iron Chef America: Iron Chef Bobby Flay vs. Amanda Freitag Episode Recap on TV.com |access-date=2009-11-19}}</ref>

Freitag competed in ''[[The Next Iron Chef]]'' Season 2, finishing in fourth place. Freitag stated she would continue as a judge on ''Chopped'' for the 2010 season and she returned for the season four episode "Against the Tide".<ref>{{Cite episode

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100308190936/http://www.foodnetwork.com/chopped/against-the-tide/index.html

|archive-date = 2010-03-08

On the April 15, 2012 episode of ''[[Iron Chef America]]'', Freitag appeared alongside ''[[Chopped (TV series)|Chopped]]'' Grand Champion [[Madison Cowan]] in "Battle: Kale",<ref name="urlBattle Kale">{{cite web |url=http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/844367 |title=Battle Kale|date=15 April 2012}}</ref> acting as Cowan's sous chef. She appeared as a contestant on season five of ''[[The Next Iron Chef]]''. She lost to [[Alexandra Guarnaschelli]] in the finale on December 23.

On May 22, 2015, she and [[Ty Pennington]] began hosting the new Food Network series ''American Diner Revival'', on which they make over diners' menus and interiors.<ref name="foodnetwork.com">[http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/american-diner-revival.html The Food Network: American Diner Revival]</ref>

== Publications ==

* {{Cite book |last1=Freitag |first1=Amanda |title=The Chef Next Door: a pro chef's recipes for fun, fearless home cooking |last2=King |first2=Carrie |publisher=William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins |year=2015 |isbn=9780062345837 |location=New York City, NY}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American women chefs]]

[[Category:Cedar Grove High School (New Jersey) alumni]]

[[Category:Judges in American reality television series]]

[[Category:Chefs from New Jersey]]