JJ Johnson

FieldTrip/Henry by JJ

Jerome Grant

Hungry Cat Cooperative

Jerome Grant is the executive chef of Sweet Home Cafe inside the historic National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Grant's culinary interest piqued at a very young age, learning the basics of Filipino cuisine from his mother. After graduating from high school, Grant attended the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. 

Upon receiving his degree in 2002, Grant moved to Saint Croix. Shortly thereafter, he was named the Best New Chef in Saint Croix in 2004. In 2005, Grant opened The Mix Lounge in Saint Croix as part owner and executive chef. 

Grant returned to the United States and accepted a role as executive sous chef to open Urbana Restaurant in the Hotel Palomar in Washington, D.C. In 2008, Grant joined the Mitsitam Cafe team as sous chef, where he played a critical role in receiving the 2012 RAMMY for Best Casual Restaurant.

In 2014, Grant was tapped as the executive chef of Mitsitam Cafe and after two successful years, was enlisted to serve as the inaugural executive chef of the Sweet Home Café in 2016.  

Under Grant’s tenure, Sweet Home Café received a James Beard nomination in 2016 for Best New Restaurant. Grant also received a James Beard nomination for 2019 Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Grant was a 2018 StarChefs Rising Star: D.C.-Chesapeake award recipient. Grant is also featured as one of Washington Life Magazine’s 2019 Young & the Guest List: 40 Under 40 for his work at Sweet Home Café and the community.

Grant and his recipes have been featured in The Washington Post, Time Magazine, The New York Times, Washingtonian Magazine, Bon Appetit Magazine, National Geographic, and Travel and Leisure Magazine among other notable publications. He has also appeared on ABC’s The Chew, The Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games, and NBC’s The Today Show, as well as international television and radio shows.

Gramercy Tavern

Michael Anthony

Michael Anthony is Executive Chef of Gramercy Tavern. Mike grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from Indiana University. He moved to France in 1992 and spent five years training and working in several renowned kitchens. When he returned to the U.S., he joined the team at Restaurant Daniel, then became Chef de Cuisine at March Restaurant before moving on to ultimate become Executive Chef at Blue Hill Stone Barns.

In September 2006 Mike took the position of Executive Chef at Gramercy Tavern. In this role he leads the restaurant into its next chapter while staying true to its original vision: to honor the rich tradition of American cooking and bring guests together in a convivial spirit of community to enjoy exceptional, seasonal food.  Passionate about using ingredients that can be traced to their sources, Mike forges strong ties between the restaurant and local farmers. Under his leadership, Gramercy Tavern earned three stars from The New York Times in 2007 and again in 2016.

Mike was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs” in 2002 and was also lauded in Bon Appetit’s “Next Generation” in 2003. In 2008, Gramercy Tavern earned the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Restaurant. In 2012, Michael won the James Beard Award for “Best Chef in New York City” and in 2015, he won the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Chef,” a national recognition. In 2016, Michael’s V is for Vegetables won the James Beard Award for “Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian” cookbooks.

Daniel Boulud

Daniel

Daniel Boulud is Chef-Owner of several award-winning restaurants and the Feast & Fêtes catering company. While he hails from outside Lyon, France, it is in New York that he has truly mastered the dining scene and is today considered one of America’s leading culinary authorities. Raised on his family’s farm in the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, the chef remains inspired by the rhythm of the seasons and menus driven by fine ingredients. Since arriving in the US in 1982, Boulud has become renowned for the contemporary appeal he adds to soulful cooking rooted in French tradition.

Daniel Boulud’s New York City restaurants include his flagship DANIEL (1993), Relais & Châteaux member; the elegant one-Michelin star Café Boulud (1998) with its adjacent cocktail bar, Bar Pleiades; his contemporary Parisian bistro, db bistro moderne (2001); two Upper West Side restaurants including the charcuterie-centric Bar Boulud (2008) and the Mediterranean-themed Boulud Sud (2011). DBGB Kitchen and Bar (2009), situated downtown on the corner of Bowery and Houston, is chef’s relaxed restaurant where the French brasserie meets the American Tavern. Épicerie Boulud (2011), with locations across from Lincoln Center, within The Plaza Food Hall and in the Oculus World Trade Center, is an eat-in and take-out market and café, with exquisite homemade and gourmet items from around the world.

Beyond Manhattan the chef has created Café Boulud in Palm Beach (2003) and db bistro moderne in downtown Miami, Florida (2010). Boulud has extended his culinary reach internationally with db bistro moderne at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands (2010), Bar Boulud London (2010) at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, Café Boulud at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto (2012), and Maison Boulud at the Ritz-Carlton Montréal (2012). In September 2014 he opened a second DBGB Kitchen and Bar at downtown Washington D.C.’s CityCenterDC, and a third Bar Boulud, in Boston’s Mandarin Oriental on Boylston Street.

Boulud’s culinary accolades include James Beard Foundation awards for “Outstanding Restaurant,” “Outstanding Restaurateur,” “Best Chef, New York City” and “Outstanding Chef of the Year.” He has been named “Chef of the Year” by the Culinary Institute of America and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government. Restaurant DANIEL has been cited as “one of the ten best restaurants in the world” by the International Herald Tribune, has earned multiple Michelin stars and Wine Spectator’s “Grand Award”. In 2015 the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awarded Boulud the Diners Club® Lifetime Achievement Award for his success as a restaurateur, businessman, and ‘chef who is revered as one of the world’s finest.’ Boulud’s culinary style is reflected in nine cookbooks, including the definitive DANIEL: My French Cuisine (Grand Central Publishing, 2013) and his most recent My Best: Daniel Boulud (Ducasse Books, 2014).