What is the Macy's Culinary Council? We're glad you asked!

Macy’s has a number of culinary initiatives that impact the way customers shop, cook, and eat at home including the Macy’s Culinary Council, a national culinary authority comprised of 15 of the nation’s top chefs. The council includes culinary masters Govind Armstrong, Rick Bayless, Cat Cora, Tom Douglas, Todd English, Tyler Florence, Gale Gand, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Andrea Robinson, Marcus Samuelsson, Nancy Silverton, Tim Scott, Ming Tsai, and Takashi Yagihashi. These chefs serve as the face of Macy’s housewares and food service divisions and help guide consumers in selecting the best tools of the trade. Macy’s has been reinterpreting and reenergizing the casual dining experience with their “fresh food fast” quick service, celebrity chef, in-store restaurants across the country such as Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi and Marcus Samuelsson’s Marc Burger. Visit macys.com/culinarycouncil for more recipes, tips, and events.

Featured Council Members:

GOVIND ARMSTRONG is the executive chef of Table 8 at The Cooper Square Hotel in New York City and chef/owner of Table 8 and 8 Oz. Burger Bar in Los Angeles and Miami Beach. His style of fresh, bright cooking has been recognized with a three star review by the Los Angeles Times and a three and a half star review by the Miami Herald. He began cooking at age thirteen and trained under some of the country’s most renowned chefs, including Wolfgang Puck at Spago, Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton at Campanile, and Joachim Splichal at Patina and Pinot Hollywood. Govind’s first book, Small Bites, Big Nights: Seductive Little Plates for Intimate Occasions and Lavish Parties, was published in 2007.

TOM DOUGLAS is the owner of five Seattle restaurants: Dahlia Lounge, Etta’s, Palace Kitchen, Lola, and most recently Serious Pie, a pizza joint in downtown Seattle. He also owns an event facility, the Palace Ballroom. His first cookbook, Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, received the James Beard Foundation award for Best Americana Cookbook. His second book, Tom’s Big Dinners, is a compilation of menus for any occasion. He recently released his third book, I Love Crabcakes.

TYLER FLORENCE is a chef, author and host of Food Network’s Food 911, How to Boil Water, and Tyler’s Ultimate. He has written five cookbooks: Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen, Eat This Book, Tyler’s Ultimate, Stirring the Pot and Dinner At My Place. An honors graduate of the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University, Florence was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2004 and also established a scholarship in his name. In 2008, he opened his first kitchen retail store, The Tyler Florence Shop, in Mill Valley, CA, just outside San Francisco.

NANCY SILVERTON is an award-winning pastry chef, founder of La Brea Bakery, and co-owner of Mozza in Los Angeles. Her cookbooks, Nancy Silverton’s Desserts from the La Brea Bakery and Nancy Silverton’s Breads from the La Brea Bakery, were nominated for an International Association of Culinary Professionals’ Julia Child award and a James Beard Foundation award, respectively. In 2007, she published A Twist of the Wrist: Flavorful Meals with Ingredients from Jars, Cans, Bags, and Boxes.

TAKASHI YAGIHASHI opened his new Chicago eatery, Takashi Restaurant, in December, 2007. The restaurant received many praises its first year. Esquire Magazine and Chicago Magazine both named Takashi the “Best New Restaurant of 2008.” Zagat rated the restaurant 29 for food, the best rating in Chicago. Takashi also operates Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi, a rustic Japanese noodle restaurant that opened in 2006 at Macy’s on State Street in Chicago. Takashi has run such famed kitchens as Okada at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas and Tribute in Detroit. He was named “Best Chef in the Midwest,” 2003, by the James Beard Foundation. In 2000, Takashi graced the cover of Food and Wine as one of “America’s Ten Best New Chefs.” Takashi's first cookbook, Takashi's Noodles, was released April, 2009.