Richard Sax

French technique entered Richard Sax’s practice through Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where the structure of the cuisine became part of his working vocabulary. The next kitchen stop, Hotel Plaza-Athénée, demanded the sort of exactness and patience that separates formal training from routine service. Before those Paris rooms, Sax had already worked outside the usual restaurant path: he taught high school English in Clark, New Jersey, and ran the Black Dog Tavern on Martha's Vineyard, taking on hospitality from the operator’s side before moving deeper into professional kitchen work.

Editorial food work came after the kitchen apprenticeship, with Richard Olney and the Time-Life Good Cook series in London placing Sax inside a process built on rigor and clarity. That blend of restaurant discipline and publishing standards led to Food & Wine in New York City, where Sax became founding director of the magazine’s test kitchen. Each stop added a different piece of the trade: classroom control, tavern service, apprenticeship discipline, and editorial judgment.

The record of Sax’s career shows a craft shaped by movement between teaching, cooking, and writing. Clark, Martha's Vineyard, Paris, London, and New York City are not just locations in sequence; they mark the places where technique, restraint, and interpretation were each tested in a different setting.

The most recent role attached to Sax is founding director of Food & Wine's test kitchen in New York City. It stands as the final professional anchor in the record, after a path that crossed Martha's Vineyard, Paris, and London.

Richard's signature dishes include Chocolate Cloud Cake, Double Chocolate Pudding, and Banana Pudding.

Richard's honors include James Beard Award.