CIA Alumni Bio
Geoffrey Zakarian is an accomplished chef, restaurateur, culinary consultant, author, Iron Chef, and television personality. He is well known for his appearances on the Food Network as a judge on Chopped, co-host on The Kitchen, and host of Cooks Vs. Cons. He also hosts Sirius XM Radio’s Food Talk.
Geoffrey began his culinary career at Le Cirque under Chef Alain Sailhac and Chef Daniel Boulud, working his way up to the position of chef de cuisine. He served as executive chef at the 21 Club and Patroon in New York City before opening his first restaurant, Town, in 2001. Geoffrey served as the culinary director at The Plaza Hotel, where he launched the Palm Court, and was the executive chef at 44 at the Royalton Hotel. He has created restaurant concepts in New York, California, and Florida, as well as on Norwegian Cruise Line vessels.
Today, Geoffrey’s restaurants include Point Royal and Counter Point in Hollywood, FL; The Lambs Club and The National Bar & Dining Rooms in New York City; and The Water Club at Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ. He has a line of food storage products, olive oil, non-stick cast iron skillets, kitchen accessories, and electronics and cookware online and in Sur La Table stores.
He is the author of two cookbooks—Geoffrey Zakarian’s Town/Country and My Perfect Pantry: 150 Easy Recipes from 50 Essential Ingredients. He generously gives of his time and talent as chairman of the City Harvest Food Council, a food rescue organization dedicated to fighting hunger in New York City. Geoffrey resides in New York City with his wife and three children.
Chef Geoffrey Zakarian majored in culinary arts at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. He is a chef, restaurateur, culinary consultant, author, entrepreneur, and television personality based out of New York City.
On April 25, 2018, Geoffrey was honored at CIA’s annual Leadership Awards event with an Augie Award®—given to those who exemplify CIA’s values of leadership, creativity, and depth of knowledge.