Michael Leviton

An eight-time James Beard Award nominee and recipient of national awards from Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Gourmet and Saveur, Michael Leviton is both an accomplished chef and passionate advocate for sustainability. He is a current member and the former Board Chair of the Chefs Collaborative, a national nonprofit dedicated to educating both industry members and customers alike about sustainable food systems, and was recently profiled as a chef on the forefront of the local food movement in Boston magazine’s inaugural “Power of Ideas” issue. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Michael began his career working alongside some of the world’s best chefs in New York City and San Francisco, including Joyce Goldstein at Square One and Daniel Boulud at Le Cirque. In 1999 he returned home to Newton, MA to open Lumière, a celebrated neighborhood bistro that quickly became known as one of the best restaurants in the Boston area. Michael has sold Lumiere to his sous chef and will be working there until the end of February before stepping out of the kitchen to focus on writing a book and teaching at BU’s gastronomy program.