Other
Francis Lam
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Francis Lam works across editing, radio, criticism, and book publishing with a food-media register built on reporting, sequence, and close attention to the social life of a meal. At Clarkson Potter, on The Splendid Table, on Top Chef Masters, and at Gourmet, his role has been to read food as labor, geography, and community, not just as finished platework. “I come to my favorite New York City taco truck for the perfectly seasoned lengua tacos, but I stay for the community.”
The Climb
Training at the University of Michigan and The Culinary Institute of America gave Francis Lam a base for a career that moved through several parts of food media without losing contact with the craft of clear, useful writing. Before food writing took center stage, he worked as a grant writer at non-profit organizations in New York, then as a writer at Financial Times. Those jobs required precision, structure, and an eye for what sits behind public-facing work—skills that later carried into his food criticism and editing. The writing itself built in layers: freelance writer at Gourmet from 2004–2007, then senior writer at Salon.com, contributing editor at Gourmet, and columnist at New York Times Magazine. Each step extended the same job in a different direction—reporting, editing, commentary, and cultural analysis shaped by food rather than separated from it. Broadcast work followed the same logic. As contributor and guest host at American Public Media's The Splendid Table from 2010–2017, Francis Lam worked in a format that depends on clarity of voice and exact detail. He later became judge at Top Chef Masters, bringing the same editorial discipline to a setting built around technical execution and public scrutiny. Since 2013, he has served as editor-at-large of Clarkson Potter, and since 2017 he has been host of American Public Media's The Splendid Table. He is also a board member of Southern Foodways Alliance, a fit for a career that keeps returning to regional foodways and the structures that preserve them.
Today
He is Editor-at-Large at Clarkson Potter, host of The Splendid Table, a judge on Top Chef Masters, and a contributing editor at Gourmet. Taken together, those roles place Francis Lam in print, on air, and in editorial culture at once. The common thread is not volume but range: the ability to move from a precise detail to the larger frame it implies.
Recognition
Francis's honors include James Beard Foundation Award for Journalism/Humor for Recipes with Roots: The True Meaning of Turkey in Cooking Light, James Beard Foundation Award for Journalism/Column for Eat in New York Times Magazine (two awards), James Beard Award winner for both Best American Book and Book of the Year for Victuals: An Appalachian Journey by Ronni Lundy, James Beard Foundation Award for Journalism/Column for Eat in New York Times Magazine, IACP for Best Chefs and Restaurants for Tacos: Recipes and Provocations by Alex Stupak and Jordana Rothman, and James Beard Foundation Award for Journalism/Profile for A Day on Long Island with Alex Lee in Lucky Peach.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Francis
What is Francis Lam's current role?
As of 2026, Francis Lam is Host.
Where did Francis Lam train or study?
Francis Lam trained at University of Michigan and The Culinary Institute of America.
What recognition has Francis Lam received?
James Beard Foundation Award for Journalism/Humor for Recipes with Roots: The True Meaning of Turkey in Cooking Light (2017).
