Chef Mason Hereford

Mason Hereford is the chef and owner of Turkey and the Wolf, a counter service-only joint that Food & Wine and Esquire listed as one of the most important restaurants of the decade, and Bon Appetit named the number one Best New Restaurant in America in 2017. He also owns Molly's Rise and Shine, a breakfast spot nearby that Food & Wine named one of the ten Best New Restaurants in America in 2020. His cookbook, Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin' in New Orleans, became a New York Times Bestseller, after the first shipment spent months lost at sea. Since then, Food & Wine named it one of the 35 Best Cookbooks of All Time. Mason, Turkey and the Wolf restaurant, the cookbook, and his co-chefs turned partners at Molly’s Rise and Shine, have all separately pulled the wool over the eyes of the ol’ James Beard Foundation and received award nominations.

 Last year Mason partnered with the co-chef of Turkey and the Wolf, Philip Cenac, and his wonderful wife, Lauren Agudo, to open a restaurant called Hungry Eyes. They serve luxury drinking food, zippy natural wines, and lipstick smeared martinis in a little spot on Magazine Street in New Orleans that looks like an 80s night club and nail salon had a lovechild. Hungry Eyes was named one of the Best New Restaurants in America by both Esquire (2023) and Bon Appetit (2024).

Early May marked the opening of Mason’s newest restaurant, Hot Stuff. He partnered with long time Turkey and the Wolf chef, Nathan Barfield, to open this southern, cafeteria style “meat and 3” restaurant. The space is super fun, and the smells of fried pork chops, smoked chicken, gravy, and black eyed peas hang around the back door like an old familiar tune. It's still new, so it gets a little extra razzle dazzle here in the bio. Just last week Esquire anointed Hot Stuff as the Bathroom of the Year as part of their Best New Restaurants in America list.

Mason was born and raised on rollerblades and gas station food in rural Virginia. He was once appeared in a mayonnaise commercial that still plays on actual TV. He knows Guy Fieri and Jennifer Coolidge, and has both of their phone numbers. He currently lives in New Orleans and will never leave.