John Besh (born May 14, 1968) is an American chef, TV personality, philanthropist, restaurateur and author. He is known for his sexual assault scandal in addition to efforts in preserving the culinary heritage of New Orleans cuisine.

Background

Besh was born in Meridian, Mississippi, and raised in Slidell. He has been married to Jenifer Berrigan Besh since 1991; together they have four children. The family are practicing Catholics and parishioners of the St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Slidell, Louisiana. Besh is a former US Marine. In 1992, he graduated from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), but his schooling was cut short owing to his serving in the Gulf War. In 1999, Food & Wine named Besh among the "Best New Chefs" based on his food at restaurant Artesia. John Besh was a co-owner with Octavio Mantilla of Besh Restaurant Group (BRG), the group formed after they bought out the original investors of the acclaimed restaurant August. In 2006, Besh won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef, South". In 2008, he earned Food Arts' Silver Spoon Award for "revitalizing the culinary legacy of New Orleans".

Sexual misconduct controversy

In 2017, the BRG managers and owners were accused of perpetuating "a culture of sexual harassment" and sexual misconduct at the restaurants, publicized by 25 current and former employees. Besh addressed the accusations in a statement: "Two years ago, I deeply hurt those I love by thoughtlessly engaging in a consensual relationship with one member of my team. Since then I have been seeking to rebuild my marriage and come to terms with my reckless actions given the profound love I have for my wife, my boys and my Catholic faith." Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain tweeted an image of the complaint filed against Besh's group, calling it "the beginning of the end of institutionalized Meathead Culture in the restaurant business". Two days after the allegations were made public, Besh stepped down from BRG. BRG executive Shannon White replaced Besh as CEO of the restaurant group. BRG was renamed BRG Hospitality after Besh's departure.

Aftermath

In October 2017, in response to the allegations of sexual misconduct, Besh stepped down from the executive advisory board for the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame. According to the National Catholic Reporter, "Other Catholic entities that have been affiliated with Besh have not released statements about their future relationship". Besh also served as a judge (alongside fellow chef Giada De Laurentiis) on an episode of the Food Network series Iron Chef Showdown that was originally set to air on December 13, 2017; however, the episode got pushed back to January 10, 2018, with Besh having been digitally edited out. Lindsey Reynolds, the former Besh Restaurant Group staff member who helped expose the company's culture of sexual harassment, is one of the people Time magazine named among the national #MeToo movement as 2017's Time Person of the Year.

Restaurants

Many of his restaurants have celebrated Louisiana regional cooking, including Restaurant August, Besh Steakhouse, Lüke, La Provence, Domenica, Pizza Domenica, Johnny Sánchez, Shaya and Borgne. The following active restaurants are associated with Besh: The following restaurants associated with Besh are now closed or no longer feature Besh:

Television appearances

Cookbooks

Contributions

Besh has contributed writing, recipes or been featured in the following books: Susan Schadt (Author) John Besh (Contribution by) John Currence (Contribution by) Kelly English (Contribution by) Chris Hastings (Contribution by) Donald Link (Contribution by) Walter Bundy (Contribution by) Kevin Willman (Contribution by) Jeremiah Bacon (Contribution by) Lisa Buser (Photographer) Peter Kaminsky (Foreword by), 2016, ISBN 978-0997355918