Mark Miller

Mark Miller is an anthropologist by training and a celebrity chef, culinary writer, and flavor designer by profession. He moved to Northern California in 1967 to study anthropology at Berkeley. His early cooking career started at Chez Panisse cooking under Alice Waters, and with Richard Olmey during trips to France. He then went on to cook at the Santa Fe Grill in Berkeley, prior to Great Chef Jeremiah Tower’s arrival at the restaurant. 

In 1979, he started Fourth Street Grill, also in Berkeley, where he is credited as being the “founder of Modern Southwestern Cuisine”, that was introduced there.

In 1983, Great Chefs Television was producing a thirteen part series titled, Great Chefs of San Francisco for PBS, and first began their relationship with Chef Miller at that time at Berkeley’s Fourth Street Grill.  The association spanned 10 years, 4 restaurants and 15 dishes! He sold Fourth Street Grill in 1985. Great Chefs caught up with Chef Miller again at Great Chef Wolfgang Puck’s SPAGO, in Los Angeles where, in 1986, they were producing Great Chefs of the West for PBS.

In 1987, Chef Miller opened Coyote Café in Santa Fe, and prepared two dishes for the Great Chefs Magazine. In 1991, Chef Miller opened “Red Sage” restaurant in Washington DC, so Great Chefs Television, who was producing Great Chefs of the East at the time, showed up to tape Chef Mark Miller again.

In 2002, Chef Mark opened another restaurant, Wildfire, in Sydney, Australia, and in 2008, he closed Coyote Café and retired. Today, he is still consulting and working with “Boneheads in Atlanta” on a fast, casual-concept restaurant chain.