User:Thatgirlincambridge/Andy Husbands

Andy Husbands is Andy Husbands is the award-winning chef/owner of two of Boston's hottest restaurants, Tremont 647 and Sister Sorel. He started his culinary career with an after-school baking job when he was 14, and never looked back. Born and raised in Seattle, Husbands worked as a sous chef and, later, executive chef at the nationally renowned East Coast Grill in Cambridge, under James Beard Award winner Chris Schlesinger. Before opening Tremont 647 with high school friend Chris Hart in 1996, he traveled to the West Coast on his motorcycle, living on a farm in New Mexico and apprenticing at several San Francisco Bay-area restaurants. His cross-country influences have taught him to be bold and adventurous in his life and his cooking. The 70-seat Tremont 647, in the heart of Boston's South End, showcases these bold flavors in his adventurous American cuisine, highlighted by many inventive global influences. Husbands' commitment to locally-grown ingredients is reflected in the restaurant's constantly evolving menu, designed to take advantage of market freshness and seasonal flavors. Among Husbands' signature dishes are Tibetan momo dumplings, Andy's "180 ribs" (named for the perfect score in a barbecue competition), huevos rancheros with wood-grilled steak, and a banana cream pie with homemade nut brittle. Four years after opening his first restaurant, Husbands opened Sister Sorel, next door. The 25-seat café features more lounge-like atmosphere - perfect for casual dining. Sister Sorel also houses a 12-seat private dining room, all served from the Tremont 647 kitchen. Husbands has made several TV appearances, including his run as a contestant in Season 6 of "Hell’s Kitchen," which premiered on FOX Television Network, July 21, 2009. Husbands ultimately placed 8th out of 17 contestants. CBS has featured him in a segment on "The Early Show" called "Chef on a Shoestring," in which he demonstrated how to cook a three-course dinner for four people for less than $20. In the Boston area, he has appeared on "TV Diner," "Phantom Gourmet," and "WB in the Morning." He has also appeared on local TV stations across the country to promote his first book, "The Fearless Chef," of which a second edition was published in 2009.

Outside the kitchen, Husbands has demonstrated a strong commitment to the community. He is on the advisory board of Boston Operation Frontline, a program that fights hunger by using chefs to teach cooking and nutrition to low-income families. Since 1998 Tremont 647 has hosted the organization's annual Operation Frontline charity dinner 11 times. To date, Husbands has raised over $100,000 in cash donations through his two restaurants, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to the charity. He also co-chairs the Boston Taste of the Nation, an annual fundraising event for Share our Strength, one of the country's leading hunger relief organizations. Husbands was a semi-finalist in the James Beard Award's Best Chef category in 2008 and 2009. Other honors include: Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence, grand prize in the National Poultry Council's Grab Bag Contest and several "Best of Boston" awards from Boston magazine and several other Boston-area periodicals. In 2000 and 2002, he was named one of Boston nightlife's most influential people by Stuff at Night magazine. In the spring of 2005, he was one of only 5 "Celebrated Chefs" chosen by the National Pork Board. He participated in the Board's national media tour for its "Pork, the Other White Meat" campaign. A particular passion for Husbands is participating in barbecue competitions, which he has done from Vermont to Tennessee, capturing numerous trophies with his team. Most notably in 2009, Husbands' team (iQUE BBQ, sponsored by Harpoon Brewery) becme the World Champions of BBQ at the Jack Daniels World Championships in Lynchberg, TN and in 2007 took 1st place out of 510 teams in the Brisket category at the Kansas City Royal. Husbands can be found blogging, and on Twitter and Facebook, as well as on his first-of-its-kind Kitchen Cam, an online live-feed from Tremont 647's kitchen (kitchencam.com)