Mark Peel is a James Beard Foundation Award

James Beard Foundation Award

The James Beard Foundation Awards were established in 1990 and are often called "The Oscars of Food." Held on the first weekend in May, the Awards honor the finest chefs, restaurants, wine professionals, journalists, cookbook authors, restaurant designers, and other food professionals in the...

-nominated chef, hailing from California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He is the executive chef and owner of Campanile restaurant.

Personal

He got his start as a sous chef under Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...

. He has also guest judged on Top Chef

Top Chef

Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...

several times. He and his former wife, pastry chef

Pastry chef

A pastry chef or pâtissier is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods...

 Nancy Silverton

Nancy Silverton

Nancy Silverton is an American chef and baker who is the author of several cookbooks and has been at the forefront of efforts to revitalize sourdough and artisan breads in the United States.-Background and career:...

, have co-authored several books together. They have 3 children.

Career

Peel's latest cookbook, New Classic Family Dinners was written with Martha Rose Shulman

Martha Rose Shulman

Martha Rose Shulman is an American cookbook author, cooking teacher and food columnist for The New York Times. Her father was author Max Shulman.-External links:*...

 and released in September 2009. Though Peel is known for his Mediterranean fare, the book is a collection of his favorite traditional American cuisine

Cuisine of the United States

American cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from the United States of America. European colonization of the Americas yielded the introduction of a number of ingredients and cooking styles to the latter...

recipes.