Susan Feniger Biography
Susan Feniger is a chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and radio and television personality from the United States. She is well-known for her appearances on the Food Network cooking show Too Hot Tamales and for launching multiple renowned eateries in Los Angeles.
How old is Susan Feniger? – Age
She is 70 years old as of 2023. She was born in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, United States.
Susan Feniger Family – Education
Feniger is the daughter of Ruth Alice and Yale Feniger and was born in Toledo, Ohio. She grew up in a Jewish household. In 1976, Feniger graduated from Pitzer College. She was a founding member of the Scleroderma Research Foundation and has served on its board of directors since 1988. Ben Feldman, an actor, is her nephew.
Susan Feniger Husband (Who is Susan Feniger partner?)
Feniger is also a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Liz Lachman is her partner, and she identifies as a lesbian. Josh Schweitzer, Feniger’s ex-husband, is married to her business colleague Mary Sue Milliken.
Susan Feniger Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $2 million.
Susan Feniger Restaurants
Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, with whom she had worked for a long time, settled in Los Angeles in 1981, where they established City Cafe. In time, they moved to a larger location on La Brea Blvd. and gave the business a new name: City Restaurant. In the former City Cafe, they opened the Mexican restaurant Border Grill in 1985. In 1990, they moved it to Santa Monica.
Later, the restaurant opened in Pasadena, which is now closed, as well as the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. In 1998, Feniger and her partner opened the Latin-inspired restaurant Ciudad, which is now a Border Grill, in Los Angeles to expand their culinary horizons. Feniger and Milliken were recognized for altering the culinary landscape of Los Angeles due to the success of the three restaurants. India, France, and Mexico are just a few of the countries whose cuisine and customs have had an impact on Feniger.
In April 2009, Feniger opened her most memorable performance project: Street, a Hollywood “street food” restaurant with multiple ethnic menus Millet puffs, paani puri, Massaman chicken curry, dumplings, Egyptian-style baked fish, and peanut butter cookies for dessert were some of the sample dishes. In November 2013, the street was closed.
Mud Hen Tavern was opened by Feniger and Executive Chef and Partner Kajsa Alger in December 2013 at the former location of Street. It was a neighborhood bar and restaurant that served up seasonal, gourmet pub food as well as comfort food in a cozy, laid-back atmosphere. A beverage program that offered a vibrant and accessible selection of international wines, local craft beers, and artisanal cocktails to complement Mud Hen Tavern’s cuisine was curated by the bar team in conjunction with mixology consultant Tricia Carr (formerly Alley). On October 11, 2016, Mud Hen Tavern shut down.
Susan Feniger Cookbook
Feniger has produced five cookbooks with Milliken and others: City Cuisine (1989), Mesa Mexicana (1994), Cantina: The Best of Casual Mexican Cooking (Casual Cuisines of the World) (1996), Cooking with Too Hot Tamales (1997), and Mexican Cooking for Dummies (1999/2002).
Susan Feniger Career
Feniger has also appeared on television, starring alongside Milliken in 396 Food Network episodes of the popular Too Hot Tamales and Tamales World Tour in the 1990s. Feniger and Milliken appeared alongside Julia Child on the PBS series Cooking with Master Chefs in 1993, prior to the Food Network shows. Feniger has also appeared on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch[8] and prepared the Tortilla Soup menu with Milliken in 2001.
Feniger made his most recent appearance on the 2010 season of Top Chef Masters, which was the second. She was the last female chef in the competition, and she lost because she couldn’t come up with a dish good enough for the gods. The Kaya toast that Feniger created for Aphrodite was served with a soy-glazed egg and coconut jam. She gave The Scleroderma Research Foundation $32,500.
ABC acquired the rights to create a sitcom based on Feniger and Milliken’s lives in 2011, but the show never aired. She made an appearance as herself in the episode “The Maiden in the Mushrooms” of Bones in April 2013.
Feniger competed for Cutthroat Kitchen in the “Superstar Sabotage” tournament in October 2014. In addition, she made an appearance as a guest judge in April 2021’s Episode 15 of Season 19 of Hell’s Kitchen.