Mary Sue Milliken is a James Beard and Julia Child award winning chef, cookbook author, media personality, food system activist, and co-owner of Mundo Hospitality Group along with her business partner Susan Feniger.
After graduating from Washburne Culinary Institute in Chicago, Milliken worked her way up and became the first female chef at Le Perroquet in 1978—where she soon met Susan Feniger. Following, she cooked at the woman-owned, two-Michelin-star Restaurant D’Olympe in Paris, before rejoining Feniger in L.A. to launch City Café in 1981, applying French techniques to dishes from around the world. The culinary pair found further acclaim with CITY Restaurant in 1985, and captured the hearts of Angelenos with Border Grill’s ’85 debut.
Milliken and Feniger have since opened multiple Border Grill locations, food trucks, and a full-service events and a catering business in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The chef duo continue breaking barriers as female restaurateurs in a male-dominated industry, pioneering sustainability initiatives and developing their culinary offerings in a variety of restaurants that include BBQ Mexicana, Pacha Mamas, and SOCALO, a California canteen and Mexican Pub. Most recently, the duo opened Alice B., a California twist on Mediterranean food in Palm Springs.
Milliken and Feniger brought their innovative approaches to The Food Network with the “Too Hot Tamales” and “Tamales World Tour” series, along with the Los Angeles’ popular food-centric radio show, KCRW’s “Good Food.” In 2011, Milliken competed on season three of Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” and won $40,000 for her chosen charity, Share Our Strength. She has also co-authored five cookbooks.
Milliken is passionate about food policy and works with various nonprofits around the world to bring her expertise to help shape sustainable food systems. Mary Sue also serves on the Board of Trustees for the James Beard Foundation, the U.S. State Department’s American Chef Corps, and is a founding member of Regarding Her, a national non-profit on a mission to advance women-identifying and nonbinary food and beverage entrepreneurs and leaders by way of innovative programs that UpliftHER Business, SupportHER Community, and AdvocateHER Industry.
In 2018, Feniger and Milliken were named the recipients of the fourth annual Julia Child Award from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, marking the first women to be honored. The distinction complements additional accolades, including the Elizabeth Burns Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Restaurant Association in 2013; earned induction into Menu Masters Hall of Fame in 2014; and the 2018 Gold Award from the Los Angeles Times for culinary excellence and innovation in Southern California.
A resident of L.A.’s Mar Vista neighborhood, Milliken enjoys spare time spent with her family, including two grown sons and her husband, Josh Schweitzer, who designed the Border Grill restaurants. She unwinds at home by cooking and gardening with Josh, hiking and cycling, as well as raising money for charitable organizations.