Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef,[1] restaurateur, television personality, and author.

He has also made numerous contributions to periodicals such as Bon Appétit, Esquire, Food Arts, Gourmet, Saveur and O, The Oprah Magazine.

In February 1997, Michael and his then-fiancée (now wife), Liz Shanahan, opened Lola in Cleveland's trendy Tremont neighborhood.

Lola garnered rave reviews and was named one of America's Best Restaurants in Gourmet magazine in its October 2000 issue.

On April 15, 2006, Symon opened a third restaurant, Parea, which in Greek means "a group of friends" or "company," in New York City.

[11] The restaurant, which featured upscale Greek food and was located on East 20th Street near Park Avenue, was run by Jonathon Sawyer, who tutored under Symon at Lolita.

Symon opened Roast, a restaurant at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan in autumn 2008.

[15] He opened a restaurant on July 1, 2009 called Bar Symon in Avon Lake, Ohio featuring casual concepts on tavern food.

In October 2009, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that Symon would contribute menu items to be prepared by foodservice firm Aramark at the Quicken Loans Arena.

On February 6, 2019, a speakeasy named Sara's opened inside of the Palms Casino Mabel's BBQ location.

[31] In the spring and summer of 2018, without warning, Symon closed all BSpot locations outside of Cleveland in the areas of Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, and Detroit.

[42] On August 27, 2007, Symon appeared in the "Cleveland, OH" episode of the television series Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

While competing in the reality competition TV series The Next Iron Chef, he reported on his experiences for Fortune, posted on CNN Money.

[43] On November 11, 2007, after a head-to-head match against John Besh, Symon was declared the winner of the entire competition.

He described it as "a show for the people who've watched Food Network forever and are ready to learn something more advanced or more creative.

On February 14, 2011, Symon appeared in a skit on the late-night talk show Conan, in which a young couple had won a "romantic" Valentine's Day dinner date on the set.

[49] In September 2011, Symon began co-hosting The Chew on ABC networks, a daily talk show that is centered on food-related and lifestyle topics.

Symon was featured in fellow Clevelander Michael Ruhlman's 2001 book The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection.

(ISBN 978-1401311063), co-authored by Symon along with fellow Iron Chef Mario Batali, long-time Food Network producer Gordon Elliott, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, and Daphne Oz.

In this cookbook, Symon provides quick and easy recipes for chicken marsala, angel hair caprese, and many others.

Other cookbooks include 5 in 5: 5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners (2013), 5 in 5: 5 for Every Season (2015), Michael Symon's Playing with Fire (2018), and Fix It with Food (2019).

In 2008, Symon began working as a "spokeschef," representing cookware companies Vitamix and Calphalon, appearing at housewares shows and other demonstration events.

[52] In 2012, and again in 2013, Symon was paired with actress Eva Longoria for a promotion for PepsiCo's Lay's potato chip called "Do Us A Flavor."

In his 20s, Symon was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and discoid lupus, which later inspired the writing of his cookbooks to use food to help in the healing process.