Virginia Willis is a James Beard [1] award-winning cookbook author, Southern chef, [2] Food Network Kitchen talent and on-air personality, content creator, motivational speaker, and social media influencer.

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Willis is the author of.[3] She is also the author of Bon Appétit Y’all: Three Generations of Southern Cooking (2008); Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Basic Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company; Okra: A Savor the South Cookbook; Grits by Short Stack Editions; and Lighten Up, Y'all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome (2015).

Early life

Virginia was born in Augusta, Georgia and moved to Alexandria, Louisiana where she attended elementary school and grew up eating Cajun and Creole cuisine. Her family relocated back to Georgia when she was in middle school. After beginning college at age 16, Willis earned a B.A. from the University of Georgia. She began her studies in culinary arts at L'Academie de Cuisine in Maryland and graduated in 1994. She later continued her education abroad at Ecole de Cuisine LaVarenne in Burgundy, France and graduated with a Grande Diplome in 1995.

Employment

Willis’ first job in a professional kitchen was as an apprentice to Southern food authority Nathalie Dupree. Since working as Test Kitchen Director on Dupree's PBS cooking series. Willis worked as Editorial Assistant to French cooking authority Anne Willan. Willis worked as Kitchen Director for celebrity television hosts Martha Stewart and Bobby Flay. ^{[citation needed]} She began her production career, producing and directing such shows as Epicurious (The Discovery Channel) and Home Plate (Turner Studios). She currently produces culinary video through Culinary Media Training and Productions,[4] co-founded with colleague Cynthia Graubart.

Publications

Willis has appeared in Eating Well magazine,[5] on the cover of Woman's World,[6] and Allrecipe magazine as a success story with her weight loss.

She has also appeared in the New York Times[7]USA Today,[8] Country Living,[9] House Beautiful,[10] Food52,[11] and The Washington Post,[12] and '

Television

She has appeared on Food Network Kitchen, CBS This Morning,[13] Fox and Friends,[14] Martha Stewart Living Television,[15] Paula Deen's Best Dishes, and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay.[16] Willis placed second on an episode of Food Network's Chopped (“Bird in the Pan”) that aired on November 27, 2012.

Awards

• Georgia Center for the Book[17] awarded Secrets of the Southern Table “25 Books all Georgians Should Read” (2018).
• James Beard Foundation Award of Excellence (2016).[18]
• Finalist International Association of Culinary Professionals Best American Cookbook (2016).[19]
• Georgia Center for the Book [20]awarded Bon Appétit, Y’all “25 Books all Georgians Should Read” – the first cookbook to ever appear on the list (2009).
• Finalist for the International Association of Culinary Professionals Best American Cookbook Bon Appétit, Y’all (2008).[21]

Bibliography

• Secrets of the Southern Table (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2018) [22]
• Lighten Up, Y'all (Ten Speed Press, March 2015). [23]
• Okra: A Savor the South Cookbook (The University of North Carolina Press, 2014). [24]
• Volume 5: Grits (Short Stack Editions, 2013). [25]
• Basic to Brilliant, Y'all (Ten Speed Press, 2011). [26]
• Bon Appétit, Y'all (Ten Speed Press, 2008). [27]

References