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Cynthia Graubart
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Cynthia Graubart launched her television cooking-show career producing Nathalie Dupree’s first national public television series, New Southern Cooking. That early production work set the terms for a practice built around Southern food as something that can be instructive, legible, and broadly useful on screen. The line from Dupree’s show through Graubart’s later work is clear in the register: practical, regionally grounded, and attentive to how food communicates when it is cooked, filmed, and served.
The Path
Training at the University of Florida gave Cynthia Graubart a base that carried across kitchen, studio, and page. From there, she moved into cooking show television production on Nathalie Dupree's first national public television series, New Southern Cooking, work that placed her inside a major shift in how Southern food was presented to a national audience. In 2017, she became Georgia Grown Executive Chef at Georgia Grown, extending that same regional focus into a public-facing culinary role. Since 2020, she has also been co-founder of Culinary Media Training and Productions, where experience in food television and production feeds directly into the teaching and shaping of culinary media. She also serves as chair of the Broadcast Committee of James Beard Foundation Awards, keeping her work tied to the standards and mechanics of food storytelling on screen.
The Work Today
The present-tense of this work is still Southern in register. As a guest chef, private event chef, and personal chef, Cynthia Graubart brings a recognizably Southern ease to service without locking it into a fixed style. The emphasis sits on food that is composed, welcoming, and direct, with a consistency that comes from moving between formats while keeping the same point of view. Her role with the Broadcast Committee for the James Beard Foundation Awards shows the other half of the craft: not just what gets cooked, but how food is framed, recorded, and circulated. That sits naturally alongside her background in television production and her continued focus on culinary storytelling.
Signature
Cynthia Graubart's signature dishes include Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, Southern Biscuits, Zucchini Love, Blueberry Love, and Strawberry Love. Read together, the list points to a kitchen that works across Southern foundation, practical instruction, and a lighter, more playful naming sense. The throughline is regional, but it is not narrow: these dishes sit between tradition and approachability.
Acclaim
Cynthia Graubart's honors include James Beard Foundation Award, James Beard Foundation Award of Excellence, and M.F.K. Fisher Food Writing Award. Taken as a group, they track a career that has moved across cooking, media, and food writing without losing technical clarity or editorial discipline.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Cynthia
What is Cynthia Graubart's current role?
As of 2026, Cynthia Graubart is chair of the Broadcast Committee for the James Beard Foundation Awards.
Where did Cynthia Graubart train or study?
Cynthia Graubart trained at University of Florida.
What recognition has Cynthia Graubart received?
James Beard Foundation Award.
