Art Smith is the executive chef and co-owner of Table fifty-two, Art and Soul, Southern Art, and LYFE Kitchen restaurants. His latest restaurant, Joanne’s, will open in late 2011 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan; it is a collaboration with Lady Gaga’s parents, Joseph and Cynthia Germanotta.

Smith has received the culinary profession's highest awards and has cooked for some of the world's most famous celebrities. In 1997, Smith became the personal, day-to-day chef to Oprah Winfrey, a position that lasted 10 years. Smith now coordinates and cooks for the headline-grabbing special events that Ms. Winfrey hosts all around the world.

Most recently Smith has made several television appearances including ABC’s Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special, A Very Gaga Thanksgiving, Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, where he quickly became an audience favorite. Smith was also featured in an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where he lent a hand to a deserving family that had devoted their lives to providing meals for the less fortunate members of their community. Smith recently completed the filming of the pilot episode for the ABC television show Time Machine Chefs (Over Easy Production Inc.).

Smith has made regular television appearances on programs such as Iron Chef America, The Today Show, Nightline, Fox News, Extra, BBQ Pitmasters, Dr. Oz and Oprah, in addition to having served as a Williams-Sonoma culinary instructor and the special events chef for Martha Stewart Living magazine.

A contributing editor to O, the Oprah Magazine, Smith is also the author of three award-winning cookbooks: Back to the Table; Kitchen Life: Real Food for Real Families; and Back to the Family. Most recently he contributed recipes and cooking advice to The Spectrum, the newest book by ground-breaking cardiologist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Dean Ornish.

In 2003 he founded Common Threads, a nonprofit organization that teaches children about diversity and tolerance through the world's great cultures. For his tireless Common Threads leadership, Smith was honored by Chicago magazine as a Chicagoan of the Year in 2007. That same year, the prestigious James Beard Foundation named him Humanitarian of the Year. Smith was inducted into the Chicago Culinary Museums Hall of Fame in 2010. Sept. 30, 2010 was proclaimed by Richard M. Daley, Mayor of the City of Chicago, as Chef Art Smith Day in Chicago.

Show full bio

Hide full bio