Supported by
Front Burner
Julia Child Foundation Honors Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken
The Border Grill chefs and restaurateurs will receive the Julia Child Award from the nonprofit.
In 1995 Julia Child created a foundation to bestow grants in the culinary field, and in 2015 the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts began giving awards to those who have made a difference in the American food scene. This year’s winners, who will receive $50,000 for a charity of their choosing, are Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill, who have been a restaurant team in Los Angeles for more than 35 years. Jacques Pépin, Rick Bayless and Danny Meyer are previous winners.
“It’s an obvious time to recognize women,” said Eric Spivey, the chairman of the foundation. “Susan and Mary Sue have empowered women during their careers.”
The two chef-restaurateurs had a close relationship with Ms. Child over the years. “We were surprised and honored to be the first women to receive the award,” Ms. Milliken said.
Both Midwesterners, they first met in 1978 at Le Perroquet in Chicago, where they were the only women in the kitchen. “We bonded immediately,” Ms. Milliken said. “Women had trouble moving up in the ’70s and ’80s so we opened our own place,” Ms. Feniger said. Travels in France, Thailand, India and Mexico contributed global flavors to their food at City Café and then City Restaurant in Southern California, long before they were the norm. Those restaurants put them on the map. A Mexican spot followed.
“We served food that we ate at staff meals,” Ms. Feniger said. They showcased their Mexican flair in books and on the Food Network, and their empire grew to include more Border Grills, spinoff trucks and other outlets. Ciudad opened in Downtown Los Angeles in 1990 and is now a Border Grill. They have just opened a Mexican barbecue kiosk, BBQ Mexicana, in Las Vegas, and have an all-day Mexican restaurant in Santa Monica in the works.
In short, they have persevered as business and kitchen partners; and now in their 60s, they show no signs of slowing down. Both chefs are active in charitable organizations, especially those supporting the food community, including Chefs Collaborative, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs and SOS. “We have led by example,” Ms. Milliken said. “We’ve never said no to anybody; we feel we’ve opened the door for people to learn to love challenging food.”
The Julia Child Award will be given to the chefs at a gala on November 1 in Washington.
Florence Fabricant is a food and wine writer. She writes the weekly Front Burner and Off the Menu columns, as well as the Pairings column, which appears alongside the monthly wine reviews. She has also written 12 cookbooks. More about Florence Fabricant
More on Food and Dining
Keep tabs on dining trends, restaurant reviews and recipes.
A forgiving and adaptable weeknight dinner stars tender chicken thighs, braised greens and whole garlic cloves. Here’s how to make it.
In the second installment of Ask Kenji, the cookbook author Kenji López-Alt tackles tough questions about tender meat.
Everyone is feeling the pain of jaw-droppingly high food costs. Here are some budget-friendly tips for grocery shopping and meal planning.
Frozen tofu becomes truly and unapologetically crisp — crunchy, even — in the oven. So why fry when you can freeze?
Fed up with no-shows and last-minute cancellations, restaurants are increasingly charging fees as high as $100 a head. And some diners are pushing back.
Sign up for our “The Veggie” newsletter to get vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties.
Eating in New York City
Once the pre-eminent food court in Flushing, Queens, for regional Chinese cuisines, the Golden Mall has reopened after a four-year renovation. A new one in Manhattan is on the horizon.
At Noksu, dinner is served below the street, a few yards from the subway turnstiles. But the room and the food seem unmoored from any particular place.
You thought Old World opulence was over? A prolific chef gives it a new and very personal spin at Café Carmellini, Pete Wells writes.
Eyal Shani’s Port Sa’id challenges the conventional wisdom that you can’t get good food in a restaurant with a turntable.
Advertisement