Barbara Figueroa

Barbara Figueroa grew up in New York City, and decided to become a chef once she was in her 20s following the influence of her grandmother. As a child, Figueroa spent summers with her grandmother in Maine, and has memories of family cooking. Figueroa trained as a chef at the New York City Community College, and then moved to Los Angeles where she worked for Wolfgang Puck at his restaurant Spago.[1]

Figueroa made her name as a chef while working as head chef at the Hunt Club within the Sorrento Hotel in Seattle,[2] taking over from David Pisegna.[3] She worked there between 1987 and 1992, when she won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Northwest Chef.[4][5] After leaving there, she opened the restaurant B. Figueroa and then became director of food and beverage at the Warwick Hotel. When she left the Warwick in 2002,[2] following a change of direction for the restaurant,[4] she made a career change. Figueroa returned to college and went on to study for a Doctor of Psychology at the University of Kansas. She graduated in 2012, and undertook her postdoctoral residency in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Center for Behavioral Medicine.[2]