HONORS:
- In early summer 2010, the name Steven Jenkins was added to the very select number of those in the Distinguished Service Hall Of Fame of the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Trade Commission.
- In March of 2010, Jenkins was notified by the French Ministry Of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries that he was named Chevalier of the ‘Order of Agricultural Merit’.
- In July of 2008, Jenkins was honored with The Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Cheese Society. His latest book, The Food Life (Ecco/HarperCollins), was published earlier in the same month.
- Jenkins’ first book, Cheese Primer (Workman, 1996), decidedly a “chef-d’oeuvre”, is in its record-breaking eleventh printing. Cheese Primer won the James Beard Award, and is one of the most highly regarded books in the world of cheese for both professionals and amateurs.
- In 1980 he became the first American to be welcomed into France’s super-honorary society, Taste-Fromage.
- He was the first American cheesemonger inducted into France’s ancient and elite Guilde des Fromagers in 1976, and was recently elevated to “Prud’homme”, the guild’s highest status.
Variously described in print over the years as “New York’s highest-profile grocer” (New York Magazine), “the enfant terrible of the fancy food business” (The New York Times), and “the eminence grise of American cheesemongers” (The New Yorker), as well as having been featured in New York Magazine’s “The 100 Smartest New Yorkers” issue, he has worked at New York’s Fairway Market for most of his career.
Jenkins has written extensively for many major food and wine publications, and has also written columns for the major trade magazines and domestic and international culinary journals. Jenkins is credited with having introduced countless cheeses and other foodstuffs to New Yorkers (and subsequently the rest of the United States), and continues to generate remarkable publicity and public awareness for food artisans and artisanal foods. He was named one of the 25 most important people in the history of the American specialty foods industry by Gourmet Retailer in their 25th-year anniversary issue.
Steven has been a guest lecturer at numerous venues in the US and in Europe including The National Geographic Society, The University of Pennsylvania, The 92nd Street Y, The Aspen Food & Wine Classic, and The Fairway Masterclass Series. He is also in demand as a judge at various competitions and culinary schools such as The American Cheese Society, The French Culinary Institute, and ICE. Steven also makes occasional appearances on television and has been featured on such shows as Modern Marvels: Cheese on The History Channel, PBS with Jacques Pepin, a featured segment on CBS’s Sunday Morning, and the Rachael Ray Show. He is a regular guest on the award-winning NPR program “The Splendid Table” with Lynn Rossetto Kasper. Jenkins’ many videos and interviews can be seen and heard at food-related websites such as Heritage Radio, Chow, Serious Eats, The Cook’s Companion and Epicurious.
Jenkins was a board member of the American Cheese Society and is an active participant in the important work of the Oldways Preservation and Exchange Trust based in Boston, MA. His many responsibilities at the highly regarded Fairway Market in New York City include pioneering the exclusive importation of countless traditional foods from over a hundred European companies.
Steve lives in New York City with his wife Michelle and their children, Max and Lily. Feel free to contact him at Steven.Jenkins@fairwaymarket.com.
