John Tesar was called “the single most talented cook I ever worked with” by Anthony Bourdain. Tesar also enjoys the pseudonym Jimmy Sears in Bourdain’s bestselling memoir Kitchen Confidential and in Medium Raw. An iconoclastic celebrity of the food world, Tesar came up as a chef in New York City at 13 Barrow St, 44 & Hell’s Kitchen, Vine, and the Supper Club. He then went on to open two acclaimed restaurants in Dallas that have been named among the best in the country by Bon Appetit, Eater, and Esquire. Tesar is a fixture of Dallas’s restaurant scene and a true “chef’s chef.” He has garnered praise from Food & Wine and The New York Times, has appeared on the Today show and The Early Show, and was a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef.


Jordan Mackay is a James-Beard-award winning writer on food, wine, and spirits. His books include Secrets of the Sommeliers and The New York Times bestseller Franklin Barbecue, and his work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and Food & Wine.