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Hunter Lewis
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Hunter Lewis works across two ends of the food business: the floor and the page. As editor in chief of Food & Wine and a guest judge on Top Chef, he comes to media with kitchen time already in hand. The point of that background is plain in the work: service teaches pace, line cook work teaches discipline, and both leave a practical read on what holds in a professional kitchen.
Coming Up
A first job as a crew member at Jersey Mike's Subs gave Hunter Lewis an early education in restaurant tempo, station work, and the coordination service depends on. From there, he moved into the kitchen as a cook at Barbuto, where line work turned those basics into a professional foundation. He describes those years as formative, and the term fits: the value of that period sits in repetition, pressure, and learning the structure of a kitchen from inside it. Jersey Mike's Subs, then Barbuto, then food media's upper tier: each step added a different kind of operational knowledge. By the time Hunter Lewis became editor in chief of Food & Wine and a guest judge on Top Chef, he had already spent time in the work that the rest of the industry talks about.
Where They Are Now
As editor in chief of Food & Wine, Hunter Lewis helps shape one of the most visible editorial voices in culinary media. As a guest judge on Top Chef, he enters a setting where technical judgment, timing, and composure are part of the brief. Both roles rely on the same advantage: firsthand familiarity with restaurant labor and the demands of service. The through line is continuity between kitchen work and editorial authority. Hunter Lewis began as a crew member at Jersey Mike's Subs, learned line discipline at Barbuto, and now applies that grounding to food journalism and televised judging. The result is a career that reads less like a pivot than an extension of the same trade, moving from the pass to the page without losing contact with the work.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Hunter
What is Hunter Lewis's current role?
As of 2026, Hunter Lewis is Editor in Chief.
Where did Hunter Lewis work before?
Hunter Lewis's earlier career included Jersey Mike's Subs and Barbuto.
