Taste of the NFL 2026 presented by PepsiCo transforms Super Bowl weekend into a celebration of culinary excellence. On Saturday, February 7, 2026—the day before Super Bowl LX—some of the nation’s most acclaimed chefs will gather at The Hibernia in San Francisco alongside NFL Legends for an evening of foodie innovation and gridiron greatness. The NFL-sanctioned event benefits GENYOUth, a national nonprofit working to end student hunger, while showcasing the cultural diversity and creative spirit that define Bay Area cuisine. Guests will experience a curated menu of exceptional dishes paired with fine wines and spirits, all crafted by culinary talent that represents the best of both local and national food scenes. Here are some of the remarkable chefs and restaurants bringing their expertise to this year’s event. For tickets and more information, visit TasteoftheNFL.com.
Andrew Zimmern
- Restaurant: N/A
- Bio: Chef, TV personality, food equity and climate activist and author – if it’s about food, Andrew Zimmern does it! Andrew is an Emmy- and four-time James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, writer, and passionate global citizen. He was the creator, executive producer, and host of the “Bizarre Foods” franchise; “Andrew Zimmern’s Driven by Food”; MSNBC’s “What’s Eating America”; the Emmy-nominated “Family Dinner,” Outdoor Channel’s Wild Game Kitchen and Field to Fire; and the Emmy-winning “The Zimmern List.” Andrew has devoted his life to exploring and promoting cultural acceptance, tolerance, and understanding through food. In 2025, he co-authored The Blue Food Cookbook, a sustainable seafood bible, with seafood expert Barton Seaver in collaboration with ocean food advocacy nonprofit, Fed by Blue. Andrew’s Minneapolis-based multi-media company Food Works oversees his digital, print and social initiatives, including website and publishing projects. Food Works has grown to include all of Andrew’s consulting work, business development, and holds all his charitable endeavors, board work, and business relationships.
Mark Bucher
- Restaurant: Medium Rare
- Bio: Mark Bucher is co-owner of Medium Rare, the iconic, highly-acclaimed D.C.-area steak and frites restaurant. His mission is to make meal security a reality — first for his Washington, D.C. metro community, and then across the nation. Bucher created his Feed the Fridge initiative to combat hunger while helping pandemic-battered restaurants stay in business. Through the program, Bucher places refrigerators at recreation centers and schools across the region and pays local restaurants to stock them with up to 100 fresh meals per day. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Bucher has provided more than 150,000 free meals to those dealing with food insecurity in the nation’s capital, distributed weekdays, weekends, and especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. His efforts have been profiled by numerous national and regional media outlets including The Washington Post, MSNBC, and FOX News.
Lasheeda Perry
- Bio: Lasheeda Perry is a culinary force! The pastry chef, visionary, and the creative heartbeat behind Queen of Flavor. Known for transforming ideas into unforgettable desserts, she blends artistry with technique to craft experiences that linger long after the last bite.
A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Lasheeda has sharpened her skills across the globe—studying baking and pastry in Ireland, Australia, and China, and later lending her talents to pastry programs inside luxury destinations like Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Salamander Hotels & Resorts. Her talent and presence have earned her features on Netflix’s Ada Twist and across Food Network platforms, including Sweet Genius, Best Baker in America, Beat Bobby Flay, and Alex vs America and Food Network Magazine.
From consulting and menu innovation to high-end tastings and global baking classes, Lasheeda brings bold flavor and elevated craft to every project.
Sayat and Laura Ozyilmaz
- Restaurant: Dahlia, and Maria Isabel
- Bio: (Laura). Originally from Mexico, Laura has been immersed in the culinary world since an early age. She attended Centro Culinario Ambrosia in Mexico City and continued her education at New York’s Culinary Institute of America. She has worked at prestigious restaurants like Café Boulud and Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain. Eleven Madison Park in New York followed, as did San Francisco’s Saison. Laura competed in Season 21 of Bravo’s Top Chef, dazzling judges with creative dishes like a hop-infused rice pudding and a dessert spread that brought together maraş, baklava, meringue, and other imaginative elements. With her new restaurant Dalida, she is thrilled to be creating a community around what she loves to do, especially in such a beautiful and multifaceted location.
(Sayat). Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Sayat earned an Economics degree at Dartmouth College in his early twenties. He then worked in analytics and demand planning and as a management consultant, but it wasn’t until a solo trip through Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia that Sayat began to think about cooking professionally. Sayat enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York, where he met his wife and business partner Laura. While at CIA, he worked at the renowned Blue Hill at Stone Barns and joined the celebrated Le Bernardin team upon graduation.
Paul Iglesias
- Restaurant: Parche and FARE
- Bio: Paul Iglesias arrived in California in 2015 to open two restaurants in the Bay Area with the consultant group Dos Ojos: Calavera in Oakland and Teleferic Barcelona in Walnut Creek. From there, Paul moved on to AlaMar, a Dominican-seafood concept venue led by Chef Nelson German. For the last six years, Paul has been the General Manager at Canela Bistro & Wine Bar in San Francisco, a tapas restaurant. He has also consulted on programming for the Four Seasons in Las Vegas. Most recently Paul decided to embark on a personal journey with Co-owner Kendrick Wu with the opening of Parche. Paul’s goal for the new restaurant is partly to pay homage to his Colombian mother. Building on the success of Parche, Paul and his wife and business partner Sophia Akbar are now preparing to open Jaji, a contemporary Afghan restaurant set to debut in January 2025, inspired by Sophia’s heritage.
Laurence Jossel
- Restaurant: Nopa
- Bio: Laurence Jossel is a South African-born, San Francisco-based chef and restaurateur known for his commitment to seasonal, sustainable, farm-focused cuisine. He moved to San Francisco in 1991 to attend the California Culinary Academy, and after graduating, worked under chefs Roland Passot at La Folie and Gary Danko at the Ritz-Carlton. In 2000, he opened Chez Nous, a neighborhood bistro featuring small plates of the Mediterranean. There, he was selected as one of five Rising Star Chefs by The San Francisco Chronicle. In 2006, he co-founded Nopa, known for its whole butchery program and seasonal, wood-fired menu. Nopa has garnered numerous accolades, and in April 2026 will celebrate 20 years of service. This year, Laurence opened his latest project, Nopa Fish, a West Coast fish market and sustainable seafood restaurant located in San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building.
Darryl Bell
- Restaurant: Stateline Road Smokehouse
- Bio: Darryl Bell has cooked in the celebrated kitchens of Alinea in Chicago, Bouchon in Yountville, Etoile in Napa, Michel Troisgros in Tokyo, and Press in St. Helena. When Bell, originally from Missouri, embarked on his first entrepreneurial venture, it had Kansas City written all over it. His company started with its flagship barbecue sauce and morphed into Stateline Road Smokehouse — the first Black-owned restaurant in the city of Napa since the 1800’s. Bell set out to redefine the BBQ experience by using culinary skills gained from his 15 years in fine dining and Michelin restaurants, coupled with his knowledge of smoking meats. With the recognition achieved within just the first year of opening, Bell has been a semi-finalist for the James Beard “Best Chef California” award; has had his restaurant named “Best Kansas City-style BBQ Restaurant” in the country; and been named to The San Francisco Chronicle’s “Top 25 Restaurants in Wine Country.”
Reem Assil
- Restaurant: Reems California
- Bio: Reem Assil is a Palestinian-Syrian chef and activist, based in Oakland, CA, who works at the intersection of food, community, and social justice. She is the founder of nationally acclaimed Reem’s California, an Arab bakery and restaurant that builds community across cultures and experiences through the warmth of Arab bread and hospitality. Reem has garnered an array of top accolades in the culinary world, including being a James Beard finalist for Outstanding Chef (2022), and being a back-to-back semifinalist for Best Chef: West (2018-19). Before dedicating herself to a culinary career, Reem spent over a decade as a community and labor organizer building the leadership and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities in their jobs and their neighborhoods. Reem is the author of the award-winning cookbook Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora.
David Fisher and Serena Chow Fisher
- Restaurant: 7 Adams
- Bio:
David Fisher
Chef David Fisher began his culinary career when he served a beautifully executed grilled cheese at his parents’ family restaurant. After attending Johnson and Wales, he competed in ACF Competitions and medaled twice. David mastered an impressive array of cooking styles, from barbecue in Oklahoma to Michelin in New York City. He met his wife Serena while cooking at Pearl & Ash before they went on to create a 12-course pop-up at BoxKite in the East Village. In June 2017, David moved to California to pursue his interest in California produce. He held chef de cuisine roles at Bird Dog in Palo Alto and Sorrel in Pacific Heights. During the pandemic, David and Serena opened Marlena in Bernal Heights, which received one Michelin star the following year. In 2024, Michelin awarded David’s newest restaurant 7 Adams one star, and called its cuisine “signature magic, highlighting Californian simplicity, featuring solid technique and thoughtful flavor combinations.”
Serena Chow Fisher
Chef Serena Chow Fisher’s love of sweet delights stems from sharing Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with her childhood best friend and making Funfetti cakes for her stuffed animals. Her first kitchen job was at a West Village cupcake, wine, and beer bar while at NYU. She pursued her love of pastry at the French Culinary Institute, then worked under Angela Pinkerton at Eleven Madison Park. Since then, she’s been the Pastry Chef at Pearl & Ash (where she met her husband, David) and Kat & Theo, before moving to California. Prior to opening Marlena with David, she held the roles of Pastry Chef at Bird Dog and Bakery Manager at Backhaus. In 2021, Esquire named Serena as the Best Pastry Chef in America, after which she was inducted into StarChef’s 2022 Class of Rising Star Chefs. In 2023, she fulfilled her dream of working with specialty ice cream by opening Jack & Remi – named after her two pups!
Annabelle Goodridge
- Restaurant: Cocobreeze
- Bio: Annabelle Goodridge’s Caribbean Restaurant & Bakery is an authentic island restaurant, bakery and full-service catering and event-planning company in the Maxwell neighborhood of Oakland, California. Executive Chef and Owner Goodridge is from the sweet islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Chef Ann skillfully crafts vibrant, nostalgic West Indian cuisine with a modern twist. Cocobreeze also features freshly made superfood juices featuring over 38 different superfoods, a full bakery, as well a variety of vegan and gluten-free options.
Mark McMillian
- Bio: A high-school sprint champion, Mark McMillian went on to pro football success – first at the University of Alabama (where he holds the record for the longest interception touchdown in school history), and then getting drafted into the NFL by the Philadelphia Eagles, where, as a rookie, he earned recognition by being named to the prestigious All-Madden Team. After a brief stint with the New Orleans Saints, McMillian went on to have some of his biggest success as a cornerback for the Kansas City Chiefs under coach Marty Schottenheimer. Beyond football, McMillian has showcased his talents in the culinary world, gaining national attention as a celebrity contestant on Gordon Ramsay’s hit Fox show Next Level Chef, where his passion and skill in the kitchen were on full display. He now resides in Las Vegas, and works with various programs dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults.
Mark Stark:
- Restaurant: Willi’s Seafood
- Bio: James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur semifinalist Mark Stark is the executive chef and co-owner with his wife Terri of numerous wildly successful restaurants in Sonoma County: Willi’s Wine Bar, Bird & The Bottle, Stark’s Steak & Seafood, Grossman’s Noshery & Bar, Augie’s French, and Monti’s in Santa Rosa, as well as Willi’s Seafood and Bravas Bar de Tapas in Healdsburg. Their newest restaurant, Augie’s French, opened in 2023. Augie’s is a classic French bistro, located in downtown Santa Rosa. Mark is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and honed his professional cooking skills in Washington DC and Seattle before settling in Sonoma County. He’s appeared on the PBS series A Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking, and KQED’s Check Please! His inventive menus highlight a global melding of flavors with Asian, Mediterranean, French, Spanish and Californian influences.
Daryl Shular
- Bio: Daryl Shular is a Certified Master Chef; serves as the host of Twisted Dish on Aspire TV; and is Founder/CEO of the Shular Hospitality Group. Born and reared in Central Florida, Daryl moved to Atlanta to earned his degree in culinary arts from the Art Institute of Atlanta. He has earned the title of Certified Master Chef — the first African American or minority to take and successfully pass that test. Chef Shular also was a member of the USA Culinary Olympic Team. Since 1993, he has received over 20 gold medals and multiple “Best in Shows” in culinary competitions. In 2004, he was National Champion in Nutritional Cooking. His Shular Institute represents another first in the industry, being the first black-owned fully licensed culinary school; there, Shular is shaking up and challenging the way the culinary schools are traditionally done!
