James Tahhan

Tahhan was born in Los Teques, Venezuela, the son of Bachir Wahbi Tahhan, of Syrian-Armenian descent, and Mimi Masri, of Syrian-Venezuelan descent. He was later joined by one brother, Wahbi Tahhan. During his formative years, Tahhan learned home cooking from his parents. During this period, Tahhan was also influenced by David Abal, a neighbor and professional chef from Galician descent, who taught Tahhan the basics of at-home cooking.[5]

At the age of 13, Tahhan emigrated to the United States with his mother, ultimately settling in Miami, Florida. Tahhan began to work to help his mother pay the household bills.[6]

Tahhan suffered from childhood obesity, yet this did not impede him from pursuing sports. Tahhan particularly excelled in martial arts, where he was twice ranked number one in his division, and won the US Open Martial Arts Championship.[7]

At the age of 16, Tahhan decided to go to college and study chemistry to become a dentist. At the same time, he started working on radio, as a spokesperson for different brands and products, where his advertisements played on radio stations including WAMR-FM, WAQI, and WMGE.[8]

After two years, Tahhan attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami, where he specialized in international cuisine as well as in Patisserie and Baking.[9] While attending school, he also started his own catering business, called Avokado.[10]

In 2016, Tahhan released a cookbook, The Homemade Chef: Ordinary Ingredients for Extraordinary Food. The cookbook become a best-seller both regionally and internationally on Amazon.com.[21] Tahhan is also a food columnist and has written for "Venue Magazine", where he gives readers recipes, cooking advice, and his thoughts on healthy living.

In 2014, Tahhan opened his first restaurant, Sabores, together with his friend and television personality, Raúl González. "People think it's rice and beans and shredded meat, and really it's this hidden treasure that nobody has pushed. We wanted to change that," he said.[22] He first traveled to Latin America to better understand Latin American cuisine.[23]

In 2016, he partnered up in Perfecto Gastrobar, a Spanish inspired restaurant based in Miami, Florida, showcased modern Spanish cuisine. Perfecto Gastrobar was then sold to a Mexican investment group that switched its name to Valentia.[24][25]

Tahhan has been named one of the leading Latin chefs in the U.S,[26] and "Miami's Hottest Chef". Once source commented, "Not many chefs have their own restaurant, host an Emmy-award winning television morning show…but James Tahhan isn’t like many chefs."[27] In 2013 and 2014, Chef James was recognized by Latin Gourmet as the Chef of the Year.[28]

Tahhan has been awarded the "Social Media Chef" of the year.[29] He was selected for the "50 Most Beautiful People" edition of People en Español magazine.[30]

Tahhan is the founder of the initiative, The Power of Food (in Spanish: El Poder De La Comida), a program where he and his team come together to prepare meals and distribute people.[31]