The Brief

Marcus Samuelsson is a wunderkind talent with a taste for blending global cuisines into something critics and the public love. 

Why We Love Him

He's always experimenting with delicious food, and building an empire based on his unique strengths. 

Early Life

Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia, where his mother succumbed to a TB epidemic. Samuelsson and his sister were adopted by a Swedish couple and moved to Göteborg, Sweden.


"Growing up, my sisters Anna and Linda and I spent summers in Smögen, on the west coast of Sweden," writes Samuelsson of his childhood. "Every morning I went fishing with my dad, Lennart, and my uncles. We caught crayfish, lobsters, and mackerel, and often smoked and preserved the catch. My grandmother, Helga, would gather us in the kitchen to teach us how to pickle fresh vegetables, and make meatballs, ginger snaps, cookies, and apple jam. These experiences taught me to love and appreciate fresh and local food."

Samuelsson studied at the Culinary Institute in Göteborg and apprenticed in restaurants in Europe, before coming to New York to work at Aquavit. 

Culinary Alchemy

At only 24, Samuelsson's obvious talent secured him the top chef spot of one of New York City's most elite fine-dining restaurants. Pretty soon after that was the youngest chef to ever receive a coveted three-star review from the New York Times. The young chef had arrived, and the world was taking notice. 

Samuelsson's unique background has always influenced his work.

In the chef's own words: "My other window into food came from my relatives and my father, Tsigie, in Ethiopia. Spices are the key element driving taste in Ethiopian cooking. In Ethiopia, food is often viewed through a strong spiritual lens, more so than anywhere else I know. I appreciate my Ethiopian roots because I see how hard people have to work there to survive, and I understand just how fortunate I am to live in this country."

In 2010, Samuelsson opened Red Rooster in Harlem, celebrating the rich cultural diversity of the neighborhood through a menu acclaimed by critics. 

His latest venture is a rotisserie chicken place called Streetbird, slated to open in Harlem in the spring of 2015. 

The Samuelsson cooking empire involves books, appearances, restaurants and other ventures. The Soul of a New Cuisine, a 2006 cookbook inspired by his African heritage, won a prestigious award from the James Beard Foundation. Inner Chef and Urban Cuisine were two television shows featuring the chef on Discovery Home and BET, respectively. 

He's been asked to cook at the White House for visiting dignitaries and has lectured about food to Google. 

What You Can Learn From Samuelsson

Mastering the food business demands both tenacity and talent, as Samuelsson demonstrates. Check out these Brooklyn food entrepreneurs who are turning a taste for ice cream or coffee into their business. As the food business reinvents itself, check out lessons from Chipotle and Taco Bell. Finally, you don't even need to know how to cook in order to build a food-related business, as Geoff Bartovokics of Tasting Table proves. 

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Marcus Samuelsson: a wunderkind chef with a taste for blending global cuisines into something critics and the public love.