Out Spotlight

Executive Chef. TV personality. Restaurant owner. Philanthropist. Mother of four. Today’s Out Spotlight is chef Cat Cora.

Catherine "Cat" Cora was born January 1, 1968, in Jackson, Mississippi. There is no doubt her upbringing had an influence on her career, raised in a small Greek community in Mississippi, by a family for whom cooking and eating were the center of life. At the Cora house, it was common to eat spices from the South, as well as fresh sheep and goat cheeses and home-cured olives sent by relatives from the island of Skopelos. The daughter and granddaughter of restaurateurs, she was 15 years old when she brought a business plan for her own restaurant to her father and grandfather, knowing they could help her. Cora's style of cooking was influenced by Julia Child, Barbara Tropp, M.F.K. Fisher and her grandmother, Alma

After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and Biology at the University of Southern Mississippi, she left Mississippi on the advice of her famous mentor Julia Child and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

While in New York, she apprenticed with and then worked for chef Anne Rozenweig at Arcadia and worked at the Beekman Tavern under chef Larry Forgione of An American Place. Her culinary education continued in Europe with apprenticeships with two of France's three-star Michelin chefs. From George Blanc of Vonnas she learned a great deal about tolerance, extreme cooking and the cuisine of the French countryside. With Roger Verge she learned not only about classical French cuisine, but also about embracing life and living it to the fullest.

After returning to New York, she honed her skills as a sous chef at The Old Chatham Shepherding Company under chef Melissa Kelly and soon headed west to plant her roots in Northern California, where she served as chef de cuisine at Napa Valley's Bistro Don Giovanni.

Cora made her TV debut in 1999 as co-host of Food Network’s Melting Pot with Rocco Di Spirito. She went on to host My Country My Kitchen: Greece, Date Plate, and was one of the featured hosts on Fine Living’s Simplify Your Life. A documentary, Cat’s In The Kitchen, was also made about her first James Beard dinner in April 2002. She also co-hosted Food Network’s show Kitchen Accomplished, where she worked with a design expert and contractor to surprise a homeowner with a three-day kitchen makeover.

In 2005 she made television history on Food Network's Iron Chef America as the first and only female Iron Chef, and in November 2006 Bon Appétit magazine bestowed her with their Teacher of the Year Award, an award she calls “the greatest recognition." That month she was also honored with another great culinary distinction when she was named executive chef of the magazine.

Known for her philanthropy outside of the kitchen she is president and founder of Chefs for Humanity, an organization that was founded in response to the 2004 tsunami disaster. Modeled after Doctors Without Borders, the not-for-profit describes itself as "a grassroots coalition of chefs and culinary professionals guided by a mission to quickly be able to raise funds and provide resources for important emergency and humanitarian aid, nutritional education, and hunger-related initiatives throughout the world." In addition, she became the nutritional spokesperson for UNICEF. She has also participates in charity wine auctions held by Auction Napa Valley where she lives.

In 2006 she appeared alongside Wolfgang Puck in NBC’s prime-time miniseries Celebrity Cooking Showdown, where celebrities were paired with famous chefs and competed in a timed cook-off à la Iron Chef. In March that year, Cora went home again when she was the Grand Marshal for Hal and Mal's St. Paddy's Parade in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.

Cora also belongs to Macy's Culinary Councils, amongst Tyler Florence, Rick Bayless, and others of the world’s most prominent chefs. The Council serves as the face of Macy’s Culinary and Housewares divisions, impacting how customers are inspired to shop, cook and eat at home. She has worked as an entertainer for The Olivia Companies, a travel company catering to the lesbian market.

Dedicated to teaching and nutrition she teamed with Disney to create a series of videos that showcases ways for families to eat healthier. Cora also has teamed with Disney for restaurant called Kouzzina on Disney's BoardWalk at the Walt Disney World Resort, celebrating her Greek heritage.

A very proud Greek-American Cora was honored when she created the menu and cooked with the White House chefs for President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama's East Room reception celebrating Greek Independence Day with the guest of honor the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

The eponymous Cat Cora, a bar and lounge style restaurant, opened at Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in April 2011 and later in 2011, a Cat Cora's Kitchen was opened in Terminal E of the Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

Working with 3 Street Media, she is developing The Cat Cora Show, a talk show devoted to food and wine which she will produce and host. She is the author of 3 cookbooks. Her first cookbook, Cat Cora’s Kitchen, was inspired by her Greek and Southern heritage and contains many of her family’s favorite recipes. She has also done cookbooks with a fresh take on classic dishes and one with recipes for creating fast, easy and phenomenal meals.

In 2011, she wrote her first children’s book, “A Suitcase Surprise for Mommy”, about when Mommy has to travel and her little boy Zoran is not happy about missing his mommy, but has a plan, and he gives her one of his special things to take with her so that she will have a part of him with her when she goes.

She is currently the co-host of Around the World in 80 Plates, where chefs compete cooking around the world on Bravo TV.

Cora has four sons – Zoran, Caje, Thatcher, and Nash – with her wife, Jennifer Cora. The couple made headlines when they announced that they were both pregnant with each other's babies -- at the same time! (Their 3 and 4th sons) Cora gave birth to Nash three months after her wife gave birth to her son Thatcher. “We decided to have them almost as twins because I travel so much and Jen can breastfeed both.” In fact they each shared that special bond with both of their youngest boys. With four active boys Jennifer controls the chaos at home, while Cora heats things up in kitchens all over the world. They currently reside in the Santa Barbara, California area.

Happy Mother's Day!