Jonathan Waxman is an American chef who was one of the pioneers of California cuisine and is credited with being the first to bring its style, fusing French cooking techniques with the freshest local ingredients, to New York. Born in 1950, Waxman grew up near Berkeley, California. After graduating from the University of Nevada at Reno, he found work playing in bands at casinos and later with a rock band named "Lynx".

Waxman eventually gave up his career as a trombonist to study at La Varenne cooking school in France. He then became chef at the birthplace of California cuisine, Chez Panisse, following the departure of Jeremiah Tower. In 1979, he and restaurateur Michael McCarty opened Michael's Restaurant in an old mansion near the Santa Monica beach; the groundbreaking cuisine attracted diners from all over America. Five years later, he opened Jams Restaurant on East 79th Street in New York; the chance to dine with what New York Magazine called "an elder statesman of the new California cooking" made Jams the most sought after dining sensation of the season. His work at Jams made him a celebrity chef; "whoever said chefs in the 80's were like rock-and-roll stars", said one reviewer, "had Jonathan in mind." Among other restaurants created by Waxman are Bud's, Hulot's, Jams of London and Table 29.Esquire magazine put him on its list of most influential Americans.

Professor Jonathan Waxman (born 1951), founder and president of Prostate Cancer UK, is the Flow Foundation Professor of Oncology at Imperial College, London, and author of four novels including The Elephant in the Room. He is a clinician who has helped develop new treatments for cancer, which are now part of standard practice.

Early life

Jonathan Waxman was born in 1951 in Hampstead, London. His father was a psychiatrist who worked at the Central Middlesex Hospital. He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's, Elstree, and at age of 17 he went to University College London Medical School, winning a scholarship and two prizes. After qualification as a doctor he worked briefly in Cambridge before returning to the capital and finding employment in North London Teaching hospitals.

Initial professional career

In 1981 Waxman embarked upon post-graduate research at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, beginning by studying the effects of chemotherapy on fertility in cancer patients. He found that patients with lymphoma were sterilised by treatment; they were cured of the cancer but rendered infertile.