World-class Chefs for a World-class Game Day
Our Tailgate chefs are world-class. Come join them for the ultimate elevated tailgate experience.
HOST Chef: Bobby Flay
Chef Flay is a culinary icon and Emmy award-winning host of many cooking programs. Bobby currently stars in Beat Bobby Flay, Bobby’s Triple Threat, and BBQ Brawl on Food Network. You can also find his shows on discovery+ and Cooking Channel. Flay has also been honored with five Daytime Emmy Awards, and was the first chef to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bullseye welcomes back Bobby for the 2024 Players Tailgate.
FEATURED Chef: Aaron May
Chef Aaron May has been part of The Players Tailgate for the last 5 years and makes his awesomeness available to you. Classically trained in Paris at the Ecole Ritz Escoffier he was inducted into the AZ Culinary Hall of Fame in 2010 as a “Chef Extraordinaire.” Featured on Food Network’s wildly popular Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and TLC’s Best Food Ever. Given his passion for food and irrepressible creativity, he is one of the top caterers in America.
Michael Symon
Chef Michael Symon, deeply influenced by his Greek and Sicilian heritage and Cleveland upbringing, infuses his dishes with bold flavors and soul. His culinary mastery can be experienced at his restaurants Mabel’s BBQ, Bar Symon, and Angeline. Beyond the kitchen, Michael's creative yet approachable cooking style shines through on his shows Symon’s Dinners & BBQ USA, both on Food Network. His illustrious career includes being named Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chef in 1998 and receiving The James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Great Lakes in 2009. With eight cookbooks to his name, including newly released "Simply Symon’s Suppers”, Michael continues his passion of sharing his culinary wisdom with his ever growing audience. When he’s not working, Michael enjoys golf, gardening, and cherished moments with his family, including wife Liz, granddaughter Emmy, grandson Butch, and English staffy, Norman.
Marc Murphy
Marc has a regular role as a judge on The Food Network’s highest rated hits, CHOPPED and CHOPPED JUNIOR as well as appearances on CHOPPED AFTER HOURS, GUYS’S GROCERY GAMES, BEAT BOBBY FLAY, WORST COOKS IN AMERICA, THE KITCHEN, THE BEST THING I EVER ATE, THE RACHAEL RAY SHOW, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, THE TODAY SHOW and HSN among others. He is both a Food Council & Board Member of City Harvest, the world’s first food rescue organization. Murphy also sits on the Leadership Council for Share our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. Marc is the author of Season with Authority: Confident Home Cooking and in June 2019 launched his hosting duties with his debut podcast, Food 360 with Marc Murphy produced by iHeartRadio.
Maneet Chauhan
Chef Maneet is known for her work on Food Network’s “Chopped” where she sits on the permanent panel of judges and is a James Beard Award for Excellence recipient. As a Culinary Institute of America graduate, Chef Chauhan has worked in some of the finest hotels and restaurants in her home country of India and in America and has been heavily lauded in the media from Food & Wine and Parade to The New York Times and the Today show.Currently residing in Franklin, Tennessee with her husband and two children, Maneet is committed to her new Southern home, forming Nashville-based Morph Hospitality Group in 2016. The group includes award-winning restaurants Chauhan Ale & Masala House, Tansuo, The Mockingbird and Chaatable. She is also a partner in Life is Brewing which includes Mantra Artisan Ales, Steel Barrel Brewing, Humulus Project and Hop Springs Beer Park.
Damaris Phillips
Damaris Phillips is a celebrity chef who can currently be seen on the Food Network co-hosting Southern & Hungry with Rutledge Wood and The Bobby and Damaris Show with Bobby Flay.She is also the 2013 winner of Food Network Star, where she impressed judges with her fresh take on Southern cuisine, and won over the audience with her impeccable charm. She then went on to host her own show, Southern at Heart, for five seasons. Damaris can also be seen on several other shows on the network, including Guy's Grocery Games, Cooks vs. Cons, Bakers vs. Fakers, Celebrity Food Fight, and others.
Christian Petroni
Born and raised in the Bronx, Chef Christian Petroni has made a name for himself as one of New York City’s most prominent Italian-American chefs. Christian first rose to fame as the founder of the groundbreaking wood-fired Italian restaurant Fortina, which had five NYC area locations. During his time at Fortina, he found stardom on the Food Network, where he’s appeared on shows including Guy’s Grocery Games, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Beat Bobby Flay, and Supermarket Stakeout. Here is the to the new home of all things Petroni Foods. An authentic story told through his lens in the form of products & media.
Ilan Hall
Ilan hall is an award winning chef television host, producer and restauranteur. Top Chef winner, host and producer of Knife Fight on Esquire & Food to Get You Laid on Logo. His trailblazing restaurant, The Gorbals, helped to ignite the DTLA food scene in 2009. He went on to open The Gorbals Brooklyn, Esh, & Ramen Hood in LA's historic Grand Central Market. Ilan got sick of winning so much that he currently has an unbroken losing streak on every single Food Network competition that he has participated in since 2022.
Amirrah Kassem
Flour Shop’s baker and Flour-ist, Amirah Kassem, is an artist at heart and cake is her medium. But she didn’t learn her skills in culinary school. Instead, Amirah grew up baking and sculpting with her mother in Mexico, where she discovered an appreciation for fine ingredients—and mastered the art of multi-sensory experiences.Today, her food-based installations have been exhibited everywhere from private settings at the Whitney Museum to 64-foot edible hallways at the Brooklyn Museum; while her fondant-free creations have also caught the attention of Vogue, Harper’s BAZAAR, and every fashion party. Kassem was the pastry chef for the 2022 Met Gala and most recently a featured guest speaker at Harvard University.
Steph Izard
Stephanie Izard, recipient of James Beard Best Chef: Great Lakes and Food & Wine Best New Chef, is the Executive Chef and Owner of Girl & the Goat, Little Goat Diner, Duck Duck Goat, and Cabra in Chicago, along with Girl & the Goat and Cabra in Los Angeles. Izard also won the coveted title of Iron Chef in 2017 and was the 4th winner of Bravo’s Top Chef. In addition to her 2023 Tastemade television series, The Curious Chef, she has made numerous appearances, as both a competitor and a judge, on shows including Tournament of Champions, Hell’s Kitchen, Guy’s Grocery Games, Chopped, and more. Her vibrant product line, This Little Goat, features a variety of globally inspired, flavor-packed sauces, spices, and crunches and Izard has written two cookbooks: Girl in the Kitchen and Gather & Graze. More information can be found at www.stephanieizard.com or follow her at @stephanieizard.
Rocco DiSpirito
Rocco is a healthy lifestyle crusader, James Beard award-winning chef, and highly acclaimed author of thirteen books, including five New York Times bestsellers. By the time he turned 20 years old, he was working in the kitchens of legendary chefs around the globe. His 3-Star restaurant Union Pacific was a New York City culinary landmark for many years.
Ken Oringer
Ken Oringer is the James Beard Award-winning chef and founder of JK Food Group. Oringer owns and operates highly acclaimed restaurants around Boston including Italian-style enoteca Coppa [a three-star reviewed restaurant from The Boston Globe and named a “Best New Restaurant” by Esquire], Spanish tapas restaurant Toro, the global-inspired small plates restaurant and raw bar Little Donkey, the coastal Italian restaurant Faccia a Faccia, and Bar Pallino, a natural wine bar located downstairs from Faccia a Faccia. Prior to starting JK Food Group, Oringer opened Clio in Boston (now called Uni), which was named one of “America’s Best New Restaurants” by Esquire, one of the “Top 50 Restaurants in America” by Gourmet magazine, and continues to be one of the most notable restaurants in Boston. Oringer has received numerous awards and recognition for his work, including garnering the StarChefs Rising Stars Mentor Award in 2010 for his dedication to teaching and inspiring the next generation of chefs. When not working, Oringer enjoys spending time at home with his wife Celine and children Verveine and Luca.
Burt Bakman
It begins deep in the heart of Texas, where Burt Bakman, an Israeli immigrant, found his calling to be a pitmaster. A quick business trip to the Lone Star State instead turned into a chance exploration of barbecue at its source, fostering a lifelong obsession in him to perfect the craft. Not a man to settle for second-best, Bakman determined to become one of the “greats” at smoking meat. When you sit down at SLAB and taste the marbled brisket for the first time or strike up a conversation over a shared plate of food, you’ll know this experience has been worth the wait.
Leonard Botello
Leonard Botello IV is the owner and pitmaster behind critically acclaimed TRUTH BBQ. Botello opened the original TRUTH BBQ Brenham in a small shack off a rural highway that runs between Austin and Houston in the summer of 2015. Armed with a used Klose pit, and as a complete unknown in the BBQ world, Botello surprised the industry in 2017 when TRUTH BBQ landed the number tenspot on the coveted Texas Monthly’s Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints list. An expert in the art of live fire cooking, Botello is known for his authentic Central Texas-style barbecue and his relentless attention to detail. Obsessed with the perfect cook, Botello spent years sleeping next to his smokers before heading inside the restaurant to serve the line that had queued outside. Botello puts his own twist on traditional recipes, creating dishes that are seemingly simple but unexpectedly delicious to guests.
Kelsey Murphy
Winner of Fox's MasterChef: Legends. With her culinary know-how, ability to expertly blend flavors, and elegant and inventive plating styles, she continually impressed judges Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez, and Joe Bastianich making her an early standout and season-long frontrunner. Kelsey specializes in Modern American Cuisine inspired by her background growing up in an Italian and Polish family where food was always a focus and large Sunday dinners were a tradition never to be missed.Through the years she has continued to teach herself new techniques and experiment with flavors for her family. She focuses on respecting ingredients for what they are, letting each component shine on the plate, and bringing together flavors from the many cultures that make up the American landscape.
Kate Williams
Chef Kate Williams is an acclaimed chef, celebrated for her innovative interpretations of traditional Midwestern dishes at her flagship restaurant, Lady of the House, in Detroit, Michigan. Her dedication to local sourcing, empowerment, and community involvement has made her a cornerstone of the Detroit gastronomic landscape. She has garnered praise from critics and earned a place as Food & Wine's 2018 list of America's Best New Chefs, and James Beard Award Semifinalist 2018, 2019, and 2021.Williams's culinary journey was nurtured from a young age in her family's kitchen, leading her to refine her skills at prestigious institutions like the French Culinary Institute and under the mentorship of esteemed chefs in the United States and Copenhagen. Her cooking style marries rustic comfort with refined sophistication, embodying her belief in the unifying power of food.The Chicago Tribune lauded her food as showing "pure mastery," while The New York Times described it as "seasonal-voluptuous." Beyond her restaurant, Williams is a fervent advocate for food justice, actively working to combat food insecurity in her community. Chef Kate Williams's passion for her craft and her community sets a standard that continues to inspire chefs and food lovers around the world.
Eric Greenspan
Eric has been profiled by such publications as The New York Times,Wine Spectator, Art Culinaire, Los Angeles Confidential, Angeleno, and Los Angeles Magazine. Named 944 Magazine’s “Most Buzzworthy Chef in America.” He also won the 2008 Grilled Cheese Invitational.Eric has hosted, judged, competed or appeared on countless TV shows, including on Food Network, A&E, National Geographic, NBC, Fox, Travel Channel, FYI, Tasted, Tastemade, Facebook Watch, and many others.
Anne Hicks
What started as a passion she gained while growing up in the kitchen, cooking along side her father to create beautiful Sunday suppers for the family, catapulted Anne into a totally new life path, when she took a chance and auditioned for MasterChef season of Legends. She quickly became a fan favorite gaining her many new opportunities to work with incredibly talented industry leaders. In 2021 Anne became a partner in a German spice company called Wurzpott and in July of 2022, Anne played a key role their US launch. While Anne is face of the brand, she also been given the freedom to create beautiful spice blends, that will be on store shelves beginning this year! When shes not working with her spices, Anne travels to food festivals to MC and judge but what inspires her even more is teaching others through small intimate cooking classes how to create delicious food from the heart the way her father taught her!
Autumn Moretti
Embarking on her culinary journey from her family’s kitchen, Autumn honed her passion for cooking. The pivotal moment arrived when she emerged as a finalist on the renowned TV show MasterChef Legends, catapulting her into the vibrant world of gastronomy. Post-show, she has traveled all over the globe, immersing herself in diverse culinary traditions and techniques. Specializing in crafting unforgettable experiences, Autumn channels her expertise into private dinner parties and intimate functions, where each dish is meticulously prepared from scratch, reflecting her unwavering commitment to the art of cooking.
Stan Hays
Stan Hays is the CEO and co-founder of Operation BBQ Relief. A seasoned and accomplished competitor on the barbecue circuit, Hays and fellow cofounder Will Cleaver launched Operation BBQ Relief when a tornado swept through Joplin, Missouri, in 2011. Hays’s passion for barbecue and assisting those in distress culminated in creating Operation BBQ Relief, which has served over 9 million meals in 30 states. In 2017, Hays was recognized as a “CNN Hero” for his work with Operation BBQ Relief. Hays has participated in more than 35 sanctioned barbecue contests, with two grand champion awards, four reserve champions, and several top 10 finishes. He was runner-up in the 2015 season of Chopped: Grill Masters on Food Network and in 2019 won Food Network Canada’s Firemasters. Hays is also a cookbook author. He co-authored a cookbook called Operation BBQ in 2019 and has a new cookbook he co-authored with Mike Golic, Sr called “Grilling with Golic and Hays” that will be released in mid May 2022.
Oyster XO
The Oysters XO Oyster Chefs serve only the highest quality East Coast and West Coast oysters, which we order fresh from oyster farms specifically for each event. Our oysters are rich and flavorful, pleasing even the most particular oyster aficionado’s palate. Our roaming mobile oyster shuckers are known as Oyster Girls and Oyster Guys. You can find them walking among the Players Tailgate, shucking and serving raw oysters.
