Geoffrey Zakarian

Geoffrey Zakarian (born July 25, 1959) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is the executive chef of several restaurants in New York City, Atlantic City, and Miami. He is featured on several television shows on the Food Network, including Chopped and The Next Iron Chef. In 2011, on The Next Iron Chef he won an opportunity to join Iron Chef America. Zakarian has a sister, Virginia, and a brother, George. Geoffrey graduated from Burncoat High School in 1977. He earned a degree in economics from Worcester State University and then went to France, where he decided to be a chef. As an apprentice chef, he began his work under chef Daniel Boulud at Le Cirque, where he was named a "Chef de Cuisine" from 1982 to 1987.

Career In 1990, he became the executive chef at 44 in the Royalton Hotel in midtown Manhattan. William Grimes of The New York Times described Zakarian as "the reason that 44 in the Royalton Hotel was always a lot better than it needed to be" in 2001. Previously in 1992, 44 had received only two stars from New York Times columnist Bryan Miller. In 1998, he became the executive chef at Patroon in Manhattan, which was awarded three stars (excellent) by New York Times critic Ruth Reichl. In the spring of 2000, Zakarian worked with Alain Passard, a renowned French chef at the three-Michelin star restaurant Arpège in Paris. Country was located in the James New York – NoMad near Madison Square Park and opened in 2005 but closed in 2008. The restaurant has earned a Michelin Star. Zakarian is now a consultant at the Water Club in Atlantic City and executive chef at the Lamb's Club in New York City. The book features 150 recipes for family, friends, and "Life Around the Table".

He is chairman of the City Harvest Food Council, a food rescue organization dedicated to fighting hunger in New York City.

His style is described as "modern" with roots in French cuisine, or as he describes it, "dynamic American".

Legal issues In spring 2011, Zakarian filed for personal bankruptcy in response to a class action lawsuit filed against him by former employees. The employees sued for back pay and alleged that he violated labor laws. Two of his partners in the related restaurant supported the workers' claims, but his publicist denied the claims. The matter was settled out of court.

In July 2015, Zakarian withdrew from a planned restaurant called The National in the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. after Donald Trump’s comments about illegal immigrants. Zakarian responded by saying Trump's statements "do not in any way align with my personal core values". Zakarian was expected to lose a $500,000 lease deposit. Trump sued Zakarian in August 2015 for a sum "in excess of $10 million" claiming the chef violated their contractual agreement, causing lost rent and other damages. The matter was settled out of court in April 2017.

Television He has appeared numerous times on Food Network's Chopped series as a judge with fellow restaurateurs Scott Conant, Chris Santos, Aarón Sánchez, Amanda Freitag, Marcus Samuelsson, Marc Murphy, Maneet Chauhan, and Alex Guarnaschelli since the show began. He appeared in the Food Network's series 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, also as a judge. He has been on Top Chef as a judge and appeared on Hell's Kitchen. Zakarian was named the winner of The Next Iron Chef in December 2011, defeating Elizabeth Falkner in the season finale. In January 2014, he became a co-host on the Food Network's series The Kitchen along with Jeff Mauro, Katie Lee, Marcela Valladolid, and Sunny Anderson. Zakarian has also appeared on Cutthroat Kitchen as a judge ("Well, Hot Clam!") and a contestant ("Judging Judges"). In 2016, he began hosting the Food Network series Cooks vs. Cons; on the show, judges try to determine if a winning dish was made by a professional chef or a home cook. Zakarian competed on Wildcard Kitchen in 2025 for an episode where Chopped judges competed.

Personal life Zakarian married Margaret Anne Williams, a marketing executive, in 2005.