World-renowned chef and Food Network Host Tyler Florence has made his mark on the culinary world with six restaurants, 16 cookbooks and 28 years on Food Network, all while raising two Redwood students.
Florence was born in Greenville, South Carolina and graduated from Johnson and Wales University in 1991 with a degree in Culinary Arts. He then went to business school and earned his degree in business and entrepreneurship.
Since he was young, Florence knew what he wanted to do. At 13, he started his career as a dishwasher at the Fish Market restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina.
“Really early, I knew I wanted to be a chef. The first time I tasted a filet mignon wrapped up in bacon, I knew this was what I wanted to do. Food has always been a big part of my life. I just love it,” Florence said.
He credits his incredible career to a crucial risk he took when he was younger. In 1995, recently out of college, Florence was hired as the executive chef at Cibo in New York.
“I decided to go to New York, and I moved there without much money, with just a job, but I knew it was exactly where I wanted to be. I can’t imagine if I’d never made that big and scary [of a] leap,” Florence saidIn 2010 the chef opened his first restaurant, Wayfare Tavern, in San Francisco under the Transamerica Tower. With his years of experience, Florence knows what makes a restaurant stand out.
“Ambience; [the restaurant] needs to tell a story. The service must be thoughtful, caring and giving, as if we genuinely want you to have a great time,” Florence said. “Of course, the third thing’s got to be the food. I think all three of them are equally important, specifically coming from a chef’s perspective.”
One of Florence’s restaurants, Miller & Lux, located in San Francisco outside the Chase Center, was recently named Best Steakhouse in the Bay Area for the second year in a row, according to the San Francisco Magazine. Florence’s son, Hayden, began his journey of being a chef when he started working at the restaurant when he was 13 and is currently 16.
“Once I started working in restaurants, I just decided I liked it. I love the pace of it. It’s like one big machine. Everyone is working together and helping each other out,” Hayden Florence said.
Hayden has enjoyed being taught by his father. Being exposed to the restaurant environment and learning in a hands-on method has helped his skills progress.
“He has so much knowledge he has passed down to me. I became really good at cooking [at a] fast rate because I started working at restaurants with barely any prior experience. I just learned by doing and being in the environment,” Hayden Florence said.
Tyler Florence finds sentimental value in watching his son become so passionate about cooking.
“He loves cooking. He loves sharpening his knife skills. He loves developing the flavors. He loves to experiment, and it’s just nice to see him really enthusiastic about something as well,” Tyler Florence said.
Besides working in a restaurant, Tyler Florence has 28 years of experience hosting television shows on Food Network, appearing on 20 shows throughout the channel. As a young chef in New York City in 1996, a woman on Food Network walked into the restaurant he was working at and handed Tyler Florence her business card. And with that, he began his television career as one of nine chefs on the new network.
“She wanted to know if I wanted to have a slot, and I said yes and just jumped in. The rest is kind of history,” Tyler Florence said.
He has big aspirations for the future, including continuing his career and advancing life opportunities.
“My goal is to just have more adventures and open up great restaurants in cool cities and fall in love with the food over and over again,” Tyler Florence said.
