Philip Tessier

PRESS Restaurant - St. Helena, CA

Philip Tessier, an acclaimed chef, author, and mentor, serves as the Chef Partner at PRESS Restaurant in St. Helena, California. Best known for its modern, refined American cuisine, PRESS has earned a Michelin star and the distinction of being a World’s 50 Best Discovery restaurant. Along with Owner Samantha Rudd and Managing Partner Justin Williams, they are getting ready to launch Under-Study, a vibrant new marketplace with a modern patisserie, an ingredient-inspired counter service restaurant, and butcher shop in St. Helena, CA.

At 16, he landed his first restaurant job at the Williamsburg Inn in Virginia, where he worked his way up from garde manger to cooking on the breakfast line. At the suggestion of one of its cooks, Tessier enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park at age 17, becoming one of its youngest students. After graduating, he stayed at the school for another year, working as a cook and server at its campus restaurant, and teaching new incoming students, before going to France on the advice of another colleague to stage with Roger Verge at his legendary Le Moulin de Mougins.

After returning to the United States, Philip Tessier trained at Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin before being hired as a Sous Chef on the opening team of Per Se in 2004, then relocating to Yountville to continue his work with Chef Thomas Keller, first as Chef de Cuisine of Bouchon Bistro, then as Executive Sous Chef of The French Laundry.

Philip was the first American chef to ever place on the podium at the biennial Bocuse d’Or Competition in Lyon, France in 2015. In 2017, he returned to coach Team USA to its monumental gold medal victory. He recounted this journey in his book Chasing Bocuse published in October 2017 by Prestel.