Thomas Keller
American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer · United States · On the map · Chefs · Born 1955 · age 71
He holds three Michelin stars at two restaurants at once - the only American chef to pull that off - and turned a stone cottage in Yountville into a pilgrimage site that redrew the American fine-dining map.
Thomas Keller is read about 609 times a day, in 14 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 10 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 400 days, one point a day.
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About this person
Thomas Aloysius Keller was born October 14, 1955, and came up through kitchens until he landed in California's Napa Valley. In 1996 the James Beard Foundation named him Best California Chef, then Best Chef in America the following year, both for his work at the French Laundry in Yountville - a restaurant that became a fixture on the annual list of the world's Top 50 until repeat winners were barred. When Michelin published its first New York City guide in 2005, his Manhattan restaurant Per Se earned three stars; a year later the debut San Francisco Bay Area guide gave the French Laundry the same. He became the only American chef to hold simultaneous three-star Michelin ratings at two restaurants, a feat that still stands, and his operations now carry seven Michelin stars in total across three addresses including the Surf Club Restaurant.
