James Briscione

James Briscione grew up with the foods of the South. In Birmingham, Alabama he cooked with James Beard award-winner Frank Stitt. Under Stitt’s tutelage, James learned to create refined Southern cuisine by selecting only the freshest local ingredients. At age 24, James became Chef de Cuisine at the famed Highlands Bar and Grill. A move to New York City and to Restaurant Daniel came next. As a sous chef in the private dining room, James cooked for the international elite executing dinner parties to French, 4-star standards. James currently works as a chef-instructor at The Institute of Culinary Education. Briscione and his wife, Brooke Parkhurst, who both hail from Pensacola, Florida, now write and cook together from their West Village apartment in New York City. Their first cookbook, Just Married and Cooking (Scribner ’11) will act as a cooking and lifestyle entertaining guide for the uninitiated, the newly married and kitchen challenged. He appeared on the first season of Food Network’s Chopped and walked away the champion. He returned to Chopped in Fall 2010 to compete in the champions tournament. James has also been featured in on-line cooking segments for ABC News Now, delish.com and Conde Nast, as well as Martha Stewart Radio on Sirius.