Chef Keith Luce Named American Culinary Ambassador

Renowned North Fork chef Keith Luce will now be taking his culinary prowess 'round the world.

Luce — whose MAIN project at Greenport's Stirling Square includes the MAIN restaurant, Nosh, Prep —headed to Washington, D.C. this week to be recognized for his talents.

Luce attended a reception presented by Le Club Les Chefs des Chefs, an exclusive gastronomic society, as well as the chief of protocol, Capricia Marshall, who was Hillary Clinton's personal assistant while Luce was a chef at the White House. She later became the social secretary.

The reception was held in honor of the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, created by the United States State Department and James Beard Foundation to appoint chefs as culinary ambassadors, with an eye toward fostering diplomacy. 

"I was honored to be brought into the two groups," Luce said. "It makes me an American culinary ambassador."

Other attendees at the event included former and current White House chefs, as well as chefs to other heads of state from around the world.

"The message is that so many important things can and do happen around a table and from this common ground, we may effect change in a positive way — the world over," Luce said. 

Other chefs in attendance included Art Smith, John Besh, Mourad Lahlou, Roy Yamaguchi, Bobby Flay, Bryan Voltaggio and Ming Tsai.

"It was an honor to be remembered and inducted into this amazing group of culinarians and leaders and it was incredible to see some of my former friends, mentors and colleagues," Luce said.

"I try to always be a grounded and humble person but its nice to think back to my time prior to returning home when I was a higher profile person performing at a tremendously high level with an amazing group of professionals. It's nice to be remembered even though I'm in my own quiet corner of the world," Luce said.

He added, "I'm looking forward to traveling to other countries and doing my part as an American culinary ambassador."