Richard Steinmetz

Since the mid-'90s, Rick Stein has taken audiences to a variety of different countries to teach them about different foods and how they are prepared and enjoyed. A longtime restaurant-owner, he made his small screen debut during the mid-'80s, but his big splash was in the 1995 documentary program "Taste of the Sea," the first of a number of series centered around great food from the oceans. His friendly, cultured demeanor on exhibit in "Taste of the Sea" was further highlighted by his next two shows, the first being "Food Heroes," about small-scale food-makers whom Stein called his heroes for valuing taste and flavor above most other things, which aired in 2002. There was also '05's "French Odyssey," a success due in no small part to the charming French countryside featured in the show. Stein traveled to all parts of the world in the late 2000s, including Europe, Asia and Australia, introducing or reintroducing regional food in such series as "Mediterranean Escapes" and "Far Eastern Odyssey," both of which aired in the late '00s. Since '06, Stein has appeared in an increasing number of documentaries only tangentially-related to food, chief among them "Rick Stein and the Japanese Ambassador," wherein the latter teaches Stein how to prepare fish the Japanese way.