Richard Blais is a successful chef, restaurateur, author and television personality but perhaps most recognizable as the winner of the Top Chef All-Stars, season eight in New York City. Richard graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and trained at The French Laundry, Daniel, Chez Panisse, and el Bulli. He was drawn to California in 2013 to open Juniper & Ivy. He and his California partners quickly followed that up by founding The Crack Shack: a chicken and egg dining concept. He currently owns and operates Trail Blais, a forward-thinking culinary company that has consulted on, designed, and operated multiple popular eateries across the United States. Trail Blais is currently heading up the opening of a flagship restaurant on the property of renowned golf course and hotel, The Aviara in Carlsbad, California.
 
Richard is the James Beard Award-nominated author of Try This at Home: Recipes from My Head to Your Plate, as well as his second cookbook, So Good: 100 Recipes from My Kitchen to Yours.  He is busily working on his third cookbook due to be published in 2022. He frequently makes appearances on Guy’s Grocery Games, Next Food Network Star and Food Network Champion, to name just a few. In addition, Blais hosts two popular hospitality industry podcasts entitled Starving for Attention which provides an entertaining, behind-the-scenes look into the food industry and Food Court which pits comedians, chefs and writers against each other to settle the eons-old debates of the food world like “ketchup vs mustard.”

When not in studio or in the kitchen, Richard may be found traveling across the country performing his live Stand-Up Cooking show to enthusiastic audiences nationwide. During the pandemic, he’s transitioned to virtual shows. He resides in Southern California with his wife and two daughters.