chef-name: Stephan Pyles

Stephan Pyles is a Great Chefs chef, cookbook author, philanthropist, and educator. He is also a pioneer of New American Cuisine, having been at the forefront of the renaissance in American cooking a generation ago and is a founding father of Southwestern Cuisine, which dominated the American food scene for two decades. Many of Southwestern Cuisine’s trademarks as seen on Great Chefs of the West, such as smoking vegetables, wood grilling and use of chiles in otherwise highly refined dishes influenced food trends globally.

Pyles, a fifth generation Texan, has opened 19 restaurants in 5 cities over the past 29 years, including Routh Street Café, Baby Routh (featured in Great Chefs of the West), and Star Canyon (featured in Great Chefs – Great Cities). Stephan Pyles was taped by Great Chefs Television in 1985 at Routh Street Cafe in Dallas, for a PBS special, “A Southwest Thanksgiving Feast”, and was also featured in the Great Chefs of the West series, also on PBS. Then again in 1994, he appeared in the Great Chefs-Great Cities television series taped at his Star Canyon Restaurant, in Dallas, for the Discovery Channel. He has authored four highly successful cookbooks and hosted two seasons of the Emmy Award-Winning PBS series New Tastes from Texas.

Pyles has cooked for dignitaries and celebrities from around the world, including five American presidents, HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Mikhail Gorbachev. He was one of five chefs worldwide invited to prepare dinner for Jimmy Carter’s70th birthday.

In fall of 2009, he opened Samar by Stephan Pyles in the Arts District which serves”International Small Plates” inspired from his travels to India, Spain and the eastern Mediterranean.

In November, 2012, Chef Pyles returned to his roots when he opened Stampede 66.

In April, 2013, he opened Sky Canyon by Stephan Pyles at Dallas’ newly renovated Love Field Airport and in May, he opened the same concept at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.