Five Celebrity Chefs Honored on New U.S. Stamps

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has released a new series of stamps honoring five celebrity chefs, including James Beard, Julia Child, Joyce Chen, Edna Lewis and Felipe Rojas-Lombardi.

The stamps were officially released last week. It was determined to honor chefs after the Postmaster General’s office was flooded with requests to celebrate the culinary arts. And how did the postal service narrow the field of chefs to honor? The selected chefs represent a wide array of cuisines reflecting the “melting pot” of American culture, Susan McGowan, the USPS director for stamp services and corporate licensing, told Today.com.

“These chefs expanded our collective palates and refined American kitchens, with many people across the nation tapping into the techniques and flavors that they introduced,” McGowan said.

The chef stamps were digitally illustrated to resemble oil paintings. McGowan offered the following explanations of why each chef made the cut:

• James Beard: “He was a passionate advocate of local ingredients and markets.”
• Julia Child: “She demystified French cuisine.”
• Joyce Chen: “She was one of America’s greatest popularizers of Chinese food.”
• Edna Lewis: “She brought quintessential dishes – such as shrimp and grits and roast chicken – to the plates of trendy restaurants.”
• Felipe Rojas-Lombardi: “He introduced the Spanish small-plate tapas concept to American restaurants.”