Suzanne Goin
Chef/Owner, The Lucques Group | Los Angeles
June 2021
2021 StarChefs Los Angeles Rising Stars Mentor Chef Award Winner presented by Vitamix Commercial
A native Angeleno, Suzanne Goin has been a woman with a culinary mission since high school. By the time she graduated from Brown University, she had worked at Ma Maison, L’Orangerie, Al Forno, and Le Mazarin. From there, she landed a position at Chez Panisse, finding a lifelong mentor in Alice Waters. Two years later, Goin followed her dream of working in France at Pain, Adour et Fantastie; L’Arpège; and Patisserie Christian Pottier.
She partnered with Caroline Styne in 1998 to open Lucques, and Food & Wine promptly named Goin one of its Best New Chefs. The partners got their second restaurant, A.O.C., off the ground in 2002. Goin and her husband, fellow chef David Lentz, launched seafood restaurant The Hungry Cat in 2005. In 2006, the James Beard Foundation honored Goin as Best Chef: California and her cookbook Sunday Suppers at Lucques as Best Cookbook from a Professional Viewpoint. (The A.O.C. Cookbook received top honors from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.) In 2016, she was recognized as Outstanding Chef of Year at the James Beard Foundation Awards. The next year, Goin was inducted into the foundation’s Who’s Who of American Food & Beverage in America. She became the 11th chef and first woman in the U.S. to win the GAYOT Restaurateur of the Year 2019.
The Lucques Group now oversees food and beverages at the famed Hollywood Bowl and its wholesale bakery, Larder Baking Company. This summer, Goin and Styne debut an A.O.C. in Brentwood and two restaurants—Caldo Verde and Cara Cara—at the Proper Hotel. In addition to being a skilled mentor, Goin co-founded L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade, Lunch Matters, and the Independent Restaurant Coalition.
