Virginia Willis (born December 29, 1966) is an American chef, writer, content creator, and food photographer whose work focuses on American Southern and French cuisine. She is the author of 5 cookbooks: Bon Appétit Y’all: Three Generations of Southern Cooking (2008), Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Basic Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company, Okra: A Savor the South Cookbook, Grits by Short Stack Editions, and Lighten Up, Y'all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome (2015).
Lighten Up, Y'all won a James Beard Award of Excellence in the Health category. Her nominations include Finalist for Best American Cookbook by the International Association of Culinary Professionals for Bon Appétit, Y’all and Lighten Up, Y'all. She was also nominated as Best Cooking School Teacher by the IACP in 2013. She is the author of "Cooking with Virginia" for Southern Living and the creator of the blog "Down Home Comfort" on FoodNetwork.com. She was named by the Chicago Tribune as one of “Seven Food Writers You Need to Know.†In 2016, Willis announced that she is in development with WGBH for a television series called Secrets of the Southern Table: A Food Lover's Tour of the Global South.
Virginia was born in Augusta, Georgia and moved to Alexandria, Louisiana where she attended elementary school and grew up eating cajun and creole cuisine. Her family relocated back to Georgia when she was in middle school. After beginning college at age 16, Willis earned a B.A. from University of Georgia in 1988. She began her studies in culinary arts at L'Academie de Cuisine in Maryland and graduated in 1994. She later continued her education abroad at Ecole de Cuisine LaVarenne in Burgundy, France and graduated with a Grande Diplome in 1995.
Willis’ first job in a professional kitchen was as an apprentice to Southern food authority Nathalie Dupree. Since working as Test Kitchen Director on Dupree’s PBS cooking series, she has worked on over 1000 TV episodes. Willis worked as Editorial Assistant to French cooking authority Anne Willan, during which time she was an Editor for the All New Joy of Cooking (1996-1997). Beginning in 1997, Willis worked as Kitchen Director for celebrity television hosts Martha Stewart and Bobby Flay. In 2000, she began her production career, producing and directing such shows as Epicurious (The Discovery Channel) and Home Plate (Turner Studios).
Willis has been featured in USA Today, Country Living, House Beautiful, Food52, The Washington Post, and CNN.com. Her writing has been published in Family Fun, Fine Cooking, All Recipes, and Taste of the South. She has appeared on Fox and Friends, Martha Stewart Living Television, Paula Deen's Best Dishes, and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay. Willis placed second on an episode of Food Network's Chopped (“Bird in the Panâ€) that aired on November 27, 2012.
Willis is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Blue Ribbon Task Force and the Atlanta Community Food Bank Advisory Board. She is a past president of the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, a member of Georgia Organics, Southern Foodways Alliance, Chefs Collaborative, and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. As a culinary influencer and leader in focusing on food and hunger issues she was a premier member of the No Kid Hungry Atlanta Society, a group of regional influencers tasked with raising money for No Kid Hungry.
Willis currently splits her time between Atlanta, Georgia and Hatfield, Massachusetts. She travels the world teaching about Southern foodways, teaching cooking classes, and fishing, as often as possible.
Bibliography
- Secrets of the Southern Table (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, coming Spring 2017)
- Lighten Up, Y'all (Ten Speed Press, March 2015)
- Okra: A Savor the South Cookbook (The University of North Carolina Press, 2014)
- Volume 5: Grits (Short Stack Editions, 2013)
- Basic to Brilliant, Y'all (Ten Speed Press, 2011)
- Bon Appétit, Y'all (Ten Speed Press, 2008)
References
