Your Coaches
Virginia Willis
Georgia born French-trained chef Virginia Willis has foraged for berries in the Alaskan wilderness, harvested capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano in Sicily, and beguiled celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Bill Clinton, Morgan Freeman, and Julie Chrisley with her cooking. She is a chef instructor for the Food Network Kitchen as well as a James Beard award-winning cookbook author. Her books include Fresh Start, Secrets of the Southern Table, Lighten Up, Y’all, Bon Appétit, Y’all, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all, Okra, and Grits.
Beginning in 2019 Virginia lost 65 pounds and has kept if off for over two years. In 2022, her health journey has been documented in Eating Well magazine, as a cover story for Woman’s World, and in the August issue of All Recipes magazine.
Virginia has embraced her new outlook on life and has become a cheerleader for those wanting to make their own life changes, “If a French-trained Southern chef can do it, you can, too!”
She is the former TV kitchen director for Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, and Nathalie Dupree; has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants; and traveled the world producing food stories – from making cheese in California to escargot farming in France.
She has appeared on Food Network's Chopped, CBS This Morning, Fox Family and Friends, Martha Stewart Living, and as a judge on Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
Virginia has also been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, People Magazine, Eater, and Food52 and has contributed to Eating Well, Garden & Gun, and Bon Appétit, and more. The Chicago Tribune praised her as one of "Seven Food Writers You Need to Know." Her legion of fans loves her down-to-earth attitude and approachable spirit. Learn more about Virginia and follow her good and good for you recipes and traveling exploits at www.virginiawillis.com.
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Cynthia Graubart is a James Beard Foundation Award-winning cookbook author, cooking teacher, and culinary television producer. With decades of experience behind her, Cynthia has produced live multi-camera television specials, in-studio culinary television series, and on-location packages. From producing, to directing, to editing, she has hands-on knowledge of every type of production environment, and she has produced more than a dozen pilot packages for renowned cookbook authors. She produced the ground-breaking nationally distributed cooking series Nathalie Dupree’s New Southern Cooking and was nominated for a Georgia Emmy Award.
In front of the camera, Cynthia shares her passion for helping families spend more time at the dinner table together. She has appeared on Fox & Friends, Hallmark’s Home & Family, NY1, syndicated Daytime TV Show, and frequently appears on morning shows
Cynthia most recently authored her 11th and 12th cookbooks, Strawberry Love and Blueberry Love for Storey Publishing (2021). She and Nathalie Dupree wrote the best-selling (and James Beard Foundation Award of Excellence-winning) Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking. Cynthia received a M.F.K. Fisher Food Writing Award for the introduction to Chicken: A Savor the South Cookbook.
Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, SeriousEats.com, Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, and Taste of the South, among many others.
Named a Georgia Grown Executive Chef for 2017 she joined her fellow appointees to cook at the James Beard House in June 2017. She co-led an all-female team of chefs in October 2019, also at the James Beard House, in celebration of Nathalie Dupree’s 80th Birthday.
Cynthia is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, a professional culinary organization with the mission to help foster the education of women in the culinary arts and related fields. She is chairperson of the Broadcast Media Committee for the James Beard Foundation Awards and is currently at work on a history of community cookbooks in Georgia. Join Cynthia online at cynthiagraubart.com. Ready to take the next step? Contact us.