Richard Blais Biography
Richard Blais is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur, and author. He is best known for his take on classic American cuisine and for appearing on the fourth season of the reality show cooking show Top Chef. Later, he returned to other episodes of Top Chef: All-Stars and won.
Richard Blais Career
Blais obtained the two-year AOS in culinary arts from The Culinary Institute of America, and throughout his college years, he worked at several high-end restaurants. Following his graduation, he received an invitation to finish his fellowship at the fish kitchen. He received training from Ferran Adrià, Daniel Boulud, and Thomas Keller at The French Laundry. Additionally, he received training at elBulli and Chez Panisse. Blais moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2000 to operate his own restaurant, Fishbone, after growing up in New York. Although he was initially dissatisfied with traditional Southern components, he managed to give them a unique twist. Trail Blais is a culinary firm he started that aims to provide design, consultancy, and operational services to restaurants in Atlanta.
Blais signed a cookbook contract with Random House subsidiary Clarkson Potter in July 2011. He published his first cookbook, Try This at Home: Recipes From My Head to Your Plate, on February 26. The book is aimed at home cooks who want to reimagine traditional recipes. Try This at Home is a 2014 James Beard Foundation Award nominee in the general cooking cookbook category. Afterward, Blais and Michael Rosen launched Juniper & Ivy in San Diego, California, marking Blais’s first West Coast restaurant and a showcase for his style of California cooking. Most recently, he and Michael launched Crack Shack, a fine-casual fried chicken concept with many outlets in Las Vegas and Southern California.
Blais published his second cookbook, So Good: 100 dishes from My Kitchen to Yours, on May 16, 2017. It includes 100 improved traditional dishes that are perfect for the home cook. Additionally, in 2017, Blais started Starving For Attention, a weekly podcast about the food industry. The game-show-style podcast “Food Court with Richard Blais” was introduced by Blais and iHeartRadio in 2020. Guests on the show include actors, comedians, writers, famous chefs, and other podcasters who debate classic culinary disputes. In addition, Blais wrote Plant Forward: 100 Bold Recipes for a Mostly Healthy Lifestyle in 2023. It’s a cookbook for a plant-based diet that emphasizes plant-based meals above dairy and meat.
Blais is a fixture on the Food Network. He has hosted Food Network’s Hungry Games and Halloween Baking Championship in addition to making frequent appearances as a participant and judge on Guy’s Grocery Games. On November 4, 2015, he participated in the second Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage tournament; having been a regular judge on the show since season 12, he won his preliminary match and advanced to the finals. In addition, he judges episodes of Masterchef and Masterchef Junior on a regular basis. Blais hosted HLN’s “Cook Your Ass Off,” a groundbreaking food competition with a healthy cookery theme, in 2015.
He started hosting “Man v. Master,” a cooking competition on the FYI Network, in 2017. Additionally, Richard has made appearances on a number of talk shows, such as Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night with Kelly and Michael, The Rachael Ray Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and The Chew. In the 2016 motion picture Why Him? which starred Bryan Cranston and James Franco, Blais made a brief appearance. Blais made an appearance on Sugar Rush as a guest judge in 2018. He most recently served as a judge on Next Level Chef, hosted by Gordon Ramsay.
Richard Blais Age
Blais was born on February 12, 1972, in Uniondale, New York, United States. He is 51 years old as of 2023 and he celebrates his birthday on the 12th of February every year.
Richard Blais Height and Weight
Blais stands at a height of 6 feet 0 inches and weighs 84 kg.
Richard Blais Family
Blais’ stepfather adopted him in the second grade. He likes to keep his personal life private hence he has neither disclosed the names of his parent nor those of his siblings. However, this information will be updated when available.
Richard Blais Wife and Children
Blais married his wife, Jazmin Blais, a yoga instructor who holds a master’s in public health from Emory University. The couple is blessed with two daughters, Riley Maddox Blais and Embry Lotus Blais.
Richard Blais Salary
Blais earns an annual salary of about $47,000-$120,000.
Richard Blais Net Worth
Blais has an estimated net worth of about $1 Million – $7 Million which he has earned through his career as a chef, television personality, restaurateur, and author.
Richard Blais Top Chef
Blais participated in Bravo’s Top Chef’s fourth season as a participant. He came in second, falling short to Stephanie Izard. After competing in and winning Top Chef: All-Stars in 2010, he went on to become the official “Top Chef” after he defeated Mike Isabella in the season finale, which aired on March 30, 2011. In Top Chef: Portland seasons 12 and 13, as well as season 18, he served as a recurring judge.
Richard Blais Weight Loss
Blais prefers to run or walk wherever he goes. He has transformed many of his previous behaviors throughout the years, particularly those related to eating, in addition to developing a genuine appreciation for physical activity. Blais weighed 230 pounds in 2003. He is getting ready to run his sixth New York City Marathon today, having lost sixty pounds. Blais will, at the very least, give up animal protein one day a week and make vegetables—or vegan protein—the main course. He believes that a lot of individuals would gain from adopting this practice as well. Even though Blais attempted to become vegan for a month, he is now a true omnivore.
It’s actually rather simple to make vegetables more appetizing to even the most carnivorous consumer. Blais suggests grilling vegetables for a number of reasons. Furthermore, Carrots and eggplants are his favorite veggies to grill because they both have a wonderful meatiness to them and take well to a wide range of flavors. When others would suggest that he bring almonds, raisins, or a whole fruit as a snack, Blais claimed he used to detest it. Although he acknowledges that having a lot of healthy snacks on hand seems corny, he is aware of how effective it is at stifling cravings and keeping you from reaching for less wholesome options. Now, Blais always packs butter, walnuts, a banana, and some kind of dried fruit before he leaves. This surprises people.
Richard Blais Restaurants
Blais is currently involved in numerous restaurants including Juniper & Ivy, an American restaurant that he opened in San Diego on March 3, 2014. There, Blais offers refined, American cuisine with a “left coast edge.” The Johnson Studio designed the restaurant at Cooper Carry. In late 2015, Blais joined forces with Michael Rosen and chef Jon Sloan to establish The Crack Shack, his second restaurant in San Diego. The eatery “serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner via an all-day menu that revolves around chicken and eggs, from fried to grilled and everything in between.” Crack Shack intends to grow, opening new shops in Orange County and Los Angeles among other parts of California.
Furthermore, Blais owned and operated The burger-focused restaurant FLIP Burger Boutique, which had three locations in Atlanta, one in Birmingham (which is now closed), and one in Nashville, Tennessee (which is also closed). Blais’s involvement with the FLIP chain has ended. Blais is the chef of a restaurant at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, California. Ember & Rye is a component of the $50 million restoration effort for the building. In December 2021, the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida welcomed Blais’ most recent restaurant venture, Four Flamingos, A Richard Blais Florida Kitchen.
Richard Blais Social Media Platform
Blais is very active on his Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages. He has 492k followers on Twitter 509.1k followers on Instagram, and 287.4k followers on Facebook.