Chef Richard James Mendel Class of 1985

Executive Chef of Rick Bayless’s Frontera Grill.

Chef Richard James has been cooking for 30 years and with Chef Rick Bayless for 20 years. He started as the grill cook in Frontera and was promoted to sous chef a year and a half later. He eventually became the managing sous chef of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. In 2007, he became chef de cuisine of Frontera and two years ago, he became managing chef of Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, and Xoco. Out of the two African Americans that hold leading positions at top restaurants in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune notes Chef Richard James as one of them.