Welcome Francis Lam, new host of The Splendid Table

For over 50 years, curiosity and outright obsessiveness have led Lynne Rossetto Kasper down many different paths to explore food, and she has spent the last 21 of those years delighting audiences as host and guiding light of The Splendid Table. Lynne’s inquisitive spirit is now leading her to explore new paths, and we are sad to share that she will be retiring from The Splendid Table at the end of 2017. You'll continue to hear Lynne's voice along with our many contributors and guests until her full retirement at end of the year. The Splendid Table team will miss Lynne dearly, especially her laughter, curiosity, and kindness, and we can't wait to hear what new adventures await her.

That said, we're also ecstatic that Lynne is leaving the show in good hands with our new host Francis Lam. Francis has been many things to The Splendid Table over the past seven years: a contributor, guest host, treasured resource and great friend. Lynne and our team couldn't be more proud to have Francis join us for the next step of our splendid journey. Fans of the show will instantly recognize Francis for his knowledge and personality, as well as his humor and humility. He is an award-winning food writer, he was a staff writer for Gourmet, an editor at Salon.com, and you see his articles in The New York Times Sunday magazine. He’s been a judge on Top Chef Masters, and he’s a cookbook editor at Clarkson Potter. By the way, he can cook; Francis graduated first in his class at the Culinary Institute of America.

In celebration of Francis coming on board, below we've gathered some of our favorite Francis Lam segments and videos from the show, words of support from food media icons, and Francis's many awards and honors. Welcome to The Splendid Table, Francis!

Our first new episode of The Splendid Table with Francis Lam at the helm will be the weekend of Friday, March 10. Read the official APM press release about this announcement here.

Francis on The Splendid Table as contributor and co-host:

• Southern cooking, without that nagging 200 years of tradition with Edward Lee (4/26/13)

• Osayi Endolyn meets Hoppin' John with Osayi Ednolyn (9/2/16)

• If it isn't really Mexican food, what is Tex-Mex with Robb Walsh (6/28/13)

• Preserving the food of Macaus -- and family recipes -- at Fat Rice (2/21/14)

• Coi: The restaurant that is vegetable-centric but no vegetarian with Daniel Patterson (3/21/14)

• Chef Amanda Cohen: 'We need to keep women in the kitchen' (8/8/14)

• A fourth-generation farmer on leaving, then returning to the family farm with Nikiko Masumoto (9/5/14)

• Designing restaurant kitchens to fit, not fight, the space with Jimi Yui (1/6/15)

• After leaving Malaysia, a fifth-generation street vendor after all with Azalina Eusope (1/30/15)

• Filmmaker David Gelb documents chefs' obsession in Netflix series, Chef's Table (4/25/15)

• Ruth Reichl: In the kitchen, 'give yourself permission to make mistakes' (10/9/15)

• For a vegan butcher, taste is easy. 'Getting the texture fight is the great difficult' with The Herbivorous Butcher (11/20/15)

• The secrets of the service with Will Guidara (5/27/16)

• Culinary covers with Corey Lee (5/27/16)

• Tasting the impossible burger with Kurt Soller (8/30/16)

• Jacques Pépin on chicken: 'It has to be done right. Otherwise, there is no recovery.' (8/30/16)

The Splendid Table Cooks with Francis Lam

Watch two of our favorite videos from our Splendid Table Cooks with Francis Lam video series below. You can view the entire collection of videos here.

Weapons-Grade Ratatouille (video and recipe)

Ginger Scallion Sauce (video and recipe)

Honors and Awards

2016 James Beard Awards

• Winner, Food Focused Column “Eat” Published in The New York Times Magazine

• Finalist, Profile “Edna Lewis and the Black Roots of American Cooking,” Published in The New York Times Magazine

2016 International Association of Culinary Professionals Food Writing Awards

• Winner, Column “Eat” Published in The New York Times Magazine

• Winner, Narrative Food Writing “Edna Lewis and the Black Roots of American Cooking,” Published in The New York Times Magazine

2014 James Beard Awards

• Winner, Profile “A Day on Long Island with Alex Lee” Published in Lucky Peach

• Finalist, MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award “Better with Age” Published in Bon Appétit

2014 International Association of Culinary Professionals Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism

• Winner, Personal Essay/Memoir “A Day on Long Island with Alex Lee” Published in Lucky Peach

• Finalist, Narrative Food Writing “Better with Age” Published in Bon Appétit

2012 International Association of Culinary Professionals Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism

• Finalist, Narrative Food Writing “Not Ducking a Legacy” Published in Gilt Taste

2010 James Beard Awards

• Finalist, Magazine Feature Writing about Restaurants or Chefs “The Last Chinese BBQ” Published in Gourmet

2010 International Association of Culinary Professionals Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism

• Winner, Culinary Writing about a Restaurant or Chef with or without Recipes “The Last Chinese BBQ” Published in Gourmet

2009 International Association of Culinary Professionals Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism

• Finalist, Culinary Writing about a Restaurant or Chef with or without Recipes “A Restaurant that's Really This Good” Published in Gourmet

2006 International Association of Culinary Professionals Bert Greene Award for Food Journalism

• Finalist, “America at its Most Alive” Published in The Financial Times

Francis is also highly regarded editor of food books/cookbooks including:

• Alex Stupak / Jordana Rothman Tacos: Recipes and Provocations

• Justin Smillie / Kitty Greenwald Slow Fires: Mastering New Ways to Braise, Roast, and Grill

• Deuki Hong / Matt Rodbard Koreatown: A Cookbook

• Chrissy Teigen / Adeena Sussman Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat

• Questlove / Ben Greenman somethingtofoodabout: Exploring Creativity with Innovative Chefs

• Tyler Kord A Super Upsetting Cookbook about Sandwiches

• Ronni Lundy Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes