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Information About

Todd English





BIOGRAPHY


English was born in Amarillo, Texas and grew up in Sandy Springs, Georgia . He matriculated at Guilford College in North Carolina on a Baseball scholarship, but quit and entered the Culinary Institute Of America at the age of 20 and graduated in 1982 . He worked under Jean-Jacques Rachou at New York’s La Cote Basque, and then moved to Italy to work at several restaurants there. He returned to the United States at age 25 and served as the Executive Chef of the Italian restaurant Michela’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts for three years before opening the original Olives restaurant in 1989 .

In 1998 , English partnered with Boston developer James Cafarelli to form The Olive Group, aimed at developing new restaurant properties using English's name and celebrity status. (The new corporation did not include English's existing restaurants.) Although the venture was successful in getting new restaurants off the ground, reviews for some new properties were tepid, and English's existing restaurants began to suffer, culminating in the closure of Olives in 2002 for health department violations. In June, 2002 , Cafarelli sued English for non-payment of salary and deferred compensation; on the same day, a major Olive Group creditor also filed suit over the terms of one of its loans. The suit with Cafarelli was eventually settled, with Cafarelli gaining control of one of the group's restaurants, Rustic Kitchen, in Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace as well as the rights for a Florida restaurant.

English has been married once, to Olivia English, but they are divorced. They have three children, named Oliver, Isabelle, and Simon.


RESTAURANTS



Olives


English's flagship restaurant, Olives, opened in Charlestown in April of 1989. The restaurant's name is a tribute to his then-wife, Olivia. The food is "rustic Mediterranean," with a strong influence from Italian Cuisine . The restaurant was named Best New Restaurant by '' Boston '' magazine, and has been honored as Best Food and Top Table by '' Gourmet '' magazine. Olives is known for two signature desserts - a Molten Chocolate Cake and a Vanilla Bean Soufflé - which must be ordered with the main meal.

Olives now has locations in Union Square , New York City ; the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas ; Washington, DC ; Aspen, Colorado ; and Tokyo .


Figs


Figs is a small chain of high-end Pizzerias in the Boston area, with two additional locations at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York . Figs offers authentic, Neapolitan -style pizzas with very thin crusts, served on inverted sheet pans, as well as Salads and Pasta s. Figs won the "Hot Concept" award from '' Nation’s Restaurant News '' magazine.


Other restaurants


English's other restaurants include:


English has also been involved in several restaurants that no longer exist (Isola, on Martha's Vineyard )


BOOKS


English has authored or co-authored three cookbooks: ''The Olives Table'', ''The Figs Table'', and ''The Olives Dessert Table,'' all published by Simon & Schuster .


PROTEGéS


Several notable Boston-area chefs have gotten their starts working with English or at Olives, including:

  • Barbara Lynch (No. 9 Park)

  • Marc Orfaly (Pigalle)

  • Paul O'Connell (Chez Henri)



AWARDS & HONORS


  • Named "National Rising Star Chef" by the James Beard Foundation in 1991

  • Named "Best Chef in the Northeast by the James Beard Foundation in 1994

  • Named one of the nation's "Top 50 Tastemakers" by ''Nation's Restaurant News'' in 1999

  • Named Restaurateur of the Year by '' Bon Appetit '' magazine in 2001

  • Named one of '' People '' magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2001

  • Inducted into the James Beard "Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America" in 2004



EXTERNAL LINKS