Personalities

Mary Sue Milliken

Co-Chef/Owner, Border Grill Restaurants & Truck

A pioneer of world cuisine since the creation of City Café and CITY Restaurant in Los Angeles in the 1980s, Mary Sue is most notably recognized as a preeminent ambassador of modern Mexican cuisine with her Border Grill Restaurants (Santa Monica, Downtown Los Angeles, Las Vegas) and Truck. In 2013, she and longtime business partner, Susan Feniger, opened a new location in the Los Angeles Airport’s Tom Bradley International Terminal and in October 2014 welcomed a second Las Vegas outpost at The Forum Shops.

After becoming the first female chef at Chicago's Le Perroquet in 1978, Mary Sue went on to refine her skills in Paris at Restaurant D’Olympe, a woman owned Michelin two-star restaurant. In 1993, she joined a handful of progressive colleagues to found Women Chefs & Restaurateurs, an organization promoting women’s education and advancement in the restaurant industry. Mary Sue and Susan received the California Restaurant Association’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2013, just the third time this prestigious honor was presented to a woman, and most recently were welcomed into the 2014 Menu Masters Hall of Fame.

Mary Sue has co-authored five cookbooks, co-stared in nearly 400 episodes of the Food Network’s “Too Hot Tamales,” and co-hosted a food centered radio show for over a decade in Los Angeles. She competed on season three of Bravo's “Top Chef Masters," making it to the finale and winning $40,000 for her charity, Share Our Strength, and its mission to end childhood hunger in America.

Mary Sue has served as a fundraiser, board member and advocate of Share Our Strength since 1987 and also serves on the Board of Trustees for the James Beard Foundation. She is passionate about food policy, working alongside the LA Food Policy Council, Pew Charitable Trusts, Oxfam, Monterey Bay Aquarium and others to help shape sustainable food systems. Mary Sue is proud to have been selected to serve the U. S. State Department as a member of the American Chef Corps, furthering the industry’s role in diplomatic affairs.

Mary Sue spends the majority of her time thinking about food and cooks 7 days a week, whether at one of her Border Grill restaurants, Border Grill Truck or at home with her two sons and husband, architect Josh Schweitzer.