José Andrés and Sam Kass with Corby Kummer

Sam Kass

Sam Kass serves as Assistant Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives at the White House. A Chicago native and college athlete, Sam played baseball for the University of Chicago and graduated with a degree in U.S. History. During college, he took a job cooking at the restaurant 312 Chicago under Chef Dean Zanella, an experience that set him on his current path. While finishing his final college year abroad Sam was trained as a chef by one of Austria’s greatest chefs, Chef Christian Domschitz in Vienna.

In 2009, Sam joined the White House Kitchen staff under Executive Chef Cris Comerford’s leadership as Assistant Chef and, in 2010, became a Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives. In this role, he works with the First Lady on her Let’s Move! initiative to reverse childhood obesity within a generation. Let’s Move! is an effort to engage every sector of society in ensuring the Nation’s children grow up healthy and live the vibrant lives they deserve.

Corby Kummer

Corby Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he has established himself as one of the country's most widely read, authoritative, and creative food writers. Kummer is the restaurant critic for Boston Magazine and the former restaurant critic for New York magazine. In addition to The Atlantic, Kummer writes regularly for Martha Stewart Living, The New York Times Magazine, and Food & Wine, among others.

Kummer is the author of The Pleasures of Slow Food: Celebrating Authentic Traditions, Flavors, and Recipes. His Atlantic series on coffee was nominated for a National Magazine Award and led to his book, The Joy of Coffee. Kummer is the recipient of three James Beard Journalism Awards, including the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award.