Mark Peel (chef)

Mark Peel is a chef and restaurateur in California. Campanile, a restaurant owned by Peel and his former wife Nancy Silverton, won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2001.[1] Peel specializes in California cuisine.

Mark Peel
Born1954
Pasadena, California
EducationB.S., Hotel and Restaurant Management, Cal Poly Pomona
Culinary career
Websitechefmarkpeel.com

Career

In October 1975, Peel began as an apprentice under Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison. In 1978, Peel did an estage stint in France at La Tour d'Argent, Potel et Chabot, and Moulin de Mougins. When Michael's opened in 1979 in Santa Monica, he became sous chef, first under Ken Frank and then under Jonathan Waxman. In 1980, Peel moved to Alice Waters' Chez Panisse to make pastries, then assumed the role of chef de cuisine at the original Spago in 1981.

In 1989, Peel co-founded Los Angeles’ Campanile restaurant with Nancy Silverton, his wife at that time.[2] "The storied restaurant, with its distinctly American approach using top-quality farmers' market ingredients, helped set the tone for Los Angeles dining in the 1990s," wrote Betty Hallock.[2] For more than two decades Peel served as Executive Chef at Campanile, where food critic Jonathan Gold observed that "... Peel is still the most exacting grill chef in the country, a master who plays his smoldering logs the way that Pinchas Zukerman does a Stradivarius."[3] Campanile closed in 2012.[2] To provide the breads they needed, Peel and Silverton also co-founded La Brea Bakery, which opened five months before Campanile restaurant launched. La Brea Bakery was sold in 2001 and is now a worldwide company.[4] Peel's Tar Pit, a cocktail lounge, and Point, a deli, also closed in 2012.[2]

Peel has authored three cookbooks (two[5] with ex-wife Nancy Silverton). His cookbook, New Classic Family Dinners, written with Martha Rose Shulman[6] was selected as one of the Top Ten Cookbooks of 2009 by Amazon and one of the Top 25 Cookbooks of 2009 by Food & Wine magazine. Though Peel is known for his Mediterranean fare, the book is a collection of his favorite traditional American cuisine recipes.

Mark Peel has appeared twice as a contestant on Top Chef Masters[7] and twice as a judge Top Chef in 2009 and 2010,[8] and appeared on several iterations of Hell's Kitchen, Knife Fight,[9] and Kitchen Nightmares. On occasion, he joins programs on the Food Network, Hallmark Network and others to demonstrate food preparations.

Chef Peel's most recent venture is Prawn Coastal, a casual broth-based seafood concept located in Grand Central Market in Los Angeles.[10] Prawn Coastal was initially launched as Bomba in 2015, and was re-branded in 2017.

The Los Angeles Times said, “For more than 20 years, Campanile has played an important role in shaping the cuisine of Southern California and beyond, not just through its menu but also through the many graduates of its kitchen.”[11] Several of his mentees went on to create restaurants of their own.

In 2013, Peel was profiled in a New York Times article about the long term effects of being a chef. His long career as a chef has taken a significant physical toll. The article states “Those 41 years in the kitchen have brought him considerable fame: Campanile won the James Beard award as outstanding restaurant in the United States in 2001. They have also brought him carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and thoracic outlet syndrome in his shoulders, resulting from repetitive stirring, fine knife movements and heavy lifting.”[12]

Philanthropy

While at Spago, Peel helped to organize the first three Food & Wine Festival fundraisers for St Vincent's Meals on Wheels and continues to be a consistent supporter of St. Vincent's efforts.[13] During the Writer's Strike in late 2007 to early 2008, Peel created a “Writer’s Soup Kitchen” every Wednesday at Campanile[14] to offer discounted meals to his customers who were affected by the strike.[15]

Mark Peel's community involvement also includes active fundraising for culinary scholarships,[16] for schools in Los Angeles and for political campaigns. His service to the community has been recognized by the Los Angeles Police Department.[17]

Awards and Honors

Campanile Restaurant and Peel[18] have received numerous awards, including:

  • The "Los Angeles Culinary Master of the Year"
  • 2012 Honored by the Los Angeles City Council for contributions to the LA food scene and charitable work.
  • 2005 California Restaurant Association, Chef of the Year
  • 2004 International Star Diamond Award for Outstanding Hospitality
  • 2001 The James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Award[19]
  • 1997 DiRoNA, Distinguished Restaurant of North America
  • 1996 Nation's Restaurant News Fine Dining Award
  • 1995 Southern California Restaurant Writers, Restaurateur of the Year & Restaurant of the Year
  • 1990 Food & Wine Magazine, Best New Chefs

Personal life

From 1979 to 1982, Peel was married to the artist Reine River. From 1984 to 2004, Peel was married to Silverton with whom he has three children. Peel is married to comedian Daphne Brogdan. They have two children.

Peel lost money in the Madoff investment scandal through Stanley Chais, who collected "feeder funds" for Bernie Madoff.[20][21]

See also

References

  1. Peel, Mark. "Campanile Restaurant and Chef Recognition". James Beard Foundation. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  2. Hallock, Betty. "Campanile closing to make way for new bistro". Internet Archive. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2018-07-24.
  3. Gold, Jonathan. "Campanile closing? The dining scene loses a standard-setter". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  4. Parsons, Russ. "Nancy Silverton looks back at 25 years of La Brea Bakery". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  5. "Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton cookbooks". Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  6. "Review: New Classic Family Dinners". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  7. "Mark Peel - Top Chef Masters". Top Chef Masters. Bravo TV. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2015-07-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Venison, Venison, Venison - Knife Fight". youtube. Esquire Network.
  10. Guinto, Reach. "Top Chef Mark Peel Navigates Making Fine Dining Quality Seafood More Accessible To The Masses". FoodBeast. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  11. "Six degrees of Campanile chefs". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. Karen Stabiner (August 24, 2013). "For a Chef, 41 Years in the Kitchen Takes Its Toll". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  13. "Chef Mark Peel's Lobster Bisque Proceeds Going to St. Vincent's". youtube.com. CBS Los Angeles. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  14. "The Campanile soup kitchen". LA Times Blog. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  15. Chu, Lenora. "Opening the 'soup kitchen' for writers". Marketplace. marketplace.org. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  16. "ExperienceHaute Couture and Cuisine at Fashion Week El Paseo". City of Palm Desert. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  17. "In Recognition of National Volunteer Appreciation Month". Los Angeles Police Department. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  18. "Mark Peel Chef Profile". Cook Eat Share. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  19. Parsons, Russ. "L.A.'s Campanile Wins James Beard Award". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  20. Whitcomb, Dan. "Stanley Chais: L.A. agent for Bernie Madoff?". U.S. Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018. Daphne Brogdon, who said she lost her entire $80,000 IRA after investing it with Chais... She said she saw the statements her husband, restaurateur Mark Peel, was getting from his investments with Chais, which reflected returns of 8 percent to 10 percent when most investors were only breaking even or losing money.
  21. "Madoff's Victims Are Close To Getting Their $19 Billion Back". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018. Brogdon said she and her husband finally started getting money back just this year thanks to a $15 million settlement between Chais’s estate and California authorities in 2016.
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