Extreme Cooking

Learn More About Rick Bayless, a Renowned Expert in Mexican Food

Rick Bayless is a well-known American chef and restaurateur who has made a name for himself by reimagining classic Mexican dishes in a contemporary style. His Mexico: One Plate at a Time series on PBS is largely responsible for his widespread recognition. A Michelin star, the title of Top Chef Masters, and seven James Beard Awards are just some of the many honors that have been bestowed upon him.

Stage and Screen Performer Rick Bayless

Rick Bayless hails from both a family in the restaurant business (his parents owned and operated the Hickory House Barbecue in Oklahoma City) and a family in the performing arts. His mother was the host of a television program that aired on the community station. His brother, Skip, is a well-known sports commentator who can be seen on ESPN2. When Rick was a kid, he was very active in the school plays that were put on. At one point, he was thinking about attending the University of Oklahoma in order to pursue a career in acting.But even after he changed directions in his profession and became a chef, Bayless never truly stopped acting. During the early stages of his career, Bayless gravitated toward teaching cooking workshops because he saw them as "performances." In the 1980s, he also presented a cooking show on television called Cooking Mexican, and his show Mexico: One Plate at a Time on PBS is currently in its ninth season. Both shows focus on Mexican cuisine. In the inaugural season of Top Chef Masters, which took place in 2009, he became victorious.Rick Bayless recently starred in a theater version of the play "Cascabel," which tells the story of an enigmatic chef who woos the owner of the Mexican boardinghouse where he works with his food and, ostensibly, his dance skills.

Achievements in the Culinary Arts

Rick is the proud owner of nine cookbooks. In 1996, his second book, Mexican Kitchen, was given the prize for best cookbook of the year by the Julia Child IACP. In 2001, his fourth book, Mexico–One Plate at a Time, was given the award for best international cookbook of the year by the James Beard Foundation. The New York Times best seller list featured Fiesta at Rick's for a number of weeks after its release.Both of Rick's award-winning restaurants can be found side by side in Chicago. The laid-back Frontera Grill first opened its doors in 1987, and in 2007, it was honored with the James Beard Foundation's top award, Outstanding Restaurant. A restaurant has never before accomplished what the four-star Toplobampo did in 2017: it was awarded the Outstanding Restaurant title by the James Beard Foundation. Toplobampo opened its doors for the first time in 1991. Since 2009, the highly popular and Leed Gold-certified fast-casual Xoco restaurant has been offering wood-oven tortas, steaming caldos, golden churros, and bean-to-cup Mexican hot chocolate. Xoco is a member of the Restaurant Association for Sustainable Restaurants. Rick and his daughter Lane established up Bar Sótano in 2018, which is a speakeasy-style mezcal bar that also serves contemporary Mexican bar food.The quick-service restaurant Rick's Tortas Frontera have revolutionized the way that food is served at O'Hare International Airport, and Frontera Fresco is responsible for bringing Frontera flavors to a number of Macy's stores as well as Northwestern University. His Frontera brand of salsas, culinary sauces, and organic chips can be found in stores from coast to coast. These products have won numerous awards.Frontera Cocina is a restaurant that he opened in 2016 in Disney Springs. Tortazo, a brand-new fast casual dining concept, has established itself in Chicago's famous Willis Tower and has ambitions to grow throughout the country.

Affiliations and Honors Received

 

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In 2003, Rick and his team formed the Frontera Farmer Foundation with the intention of assisting local agriculture in the Midwest. Grants are given out on an annual basis to farmers in order to assist them in making capital upgrades to their family farms, which in turn encourages increased productivity and profitability. To this day, the Foundation has dispersed close to two hundred grants, totaling close to two million dollars. In 2007, Bayless and his colleagues established the Frontera Scholarship, which provides a Mexican-American student attending a Chicago Public School with the opportunity to attend Kendall College and major in culinary arts at no cost to the student. Rick was recognized by the International Association of Culinary Professionals as the 2007 Humanitarian of the Year for his many contributions to charitable causes and received the award that year.

Rick has been nominated for a large number of James Beard Awards across a wide variety of categories, and he has won seven of them. These include Midwest Chef of the Year, National Chef of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year, Who's Who of American Food and Drink, Best Podcast, and two James Beard Awards for his cookbooks.

Rick has been awarded the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, which is the highest distinction that can be given to a non-Mexican whose work has been to Mexico and its people's advantage.

Recently, Rick completed up a sold-out 5-week run on stage at Lookingglass Theatre, where he created Cascabel. Cascabel offered theatergoers the story of a meal, recounted through the flavor, memory, music, dance, and astonishing physical feats of the meal itself.

In 2016, he was presented with the Julia Child Foundation Award, which is a distinguished accolade bestowed upon "an individual who has made a profound and significant impact on the way America cooks, eats, and drinks."

Personal Life

Rick Bayless possesses an incredible personality in addition to his striking good looks. The celebrity chef stands at a height of approximately 6 feet.

Moving on to the more personal and romantic aspects of Rick Bayless' life, we find out that he is married. In 1979, he was married to Dean Bayless.Since that time, she has been a wonderful source of support for Rick. They had a kid together whose name is Lane Ann Bayless, and they are living a comfortable life. Aside from that, he does not have any other relationships with other people. And he doesn't have any issues with people choosing the gender they identify with. Additionally, as of the present day, he does not have any actions that may be considered contentious.

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