Headline acts / General Session / Speakers/Sports Personalities / Something Different

Graham Elliot is an award winning chef, restaurateur, television personality and cookbook author. Elliot, a self-proclaimed “Navy brat” who has traveled the world and all fifty US states, has accrued many prestigious accolades including multiple James Beard Foundation Nominations. At age 27, Elliot became the youngest four-star chef to be named in any major U.S. city and was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs” in 2004. In May of 2008, Elliot opened his eponymous restaurant, Graham Elliot, which went on to become one of only 15 restaurants in the U.S. to be awarded two Michelin stars.

“Food to me, in one word, is ‘creativity’ or ‘expression.’ It’s simply, ‘This is who I am at this point in time, and this is what I want to cook for you.”

In 2016 after 10 seasons with the MasterChef & MasterChef Jr. franchise, Chef Elliot left the show to join Bravo’s Emmy Award winning hit cooking competitions, Top Chef as a full time judge alongside Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, and Gail Simmons. And beginning Summer 2019, Graham joins restaurateur and best-selling cookbook author Ayesha Curry and “Iron Chef” Cat Cora on ABC’s Family Food Fight. Eight families from across the country share a common kitchen as they pull out their best culinary moves in the kitchen, serving up authentic family dishes and drama in pursuit of the title of America’s No. 1 Food Family.

A life long dream to operate in Santa Monica California, Elliot partnered with premier dining collective K2 Restaurants to roll out his first west-coast casual takeaway called Petit Harvest offering more vegetable-focused fare including hummus with market vegetables, a Beyond burger, lots of salads, and more. Petite Harvest is scheduled to open mid-late summer 2019. Since February 2018, Elliot continues to operate his first restaurant project in Asia, Coast at MGM Cotai.

In 2013, Graham decided to make a life change and focus on his health and family, and to date, has lost an amazing 150 pounds (starting at 400 and now down to 250). Since then he has run a marathon and continued to keep the weight off so that he can spend more quality time with his family and friends.