The New York Times once called James Beard the "Dean of American Cookery." He had no formal culinary training, but was a pioneer foodie. He started a catering company in 1935, hosted the first food program on television (which was just getting started itself, back in 1946), established the James Beard Cooking School in 1955, and wrote more than 20 cookbooks.

Beard was an inspiration for a generation of chefs and home cooks alike. As the nonprofit James Beard Foundation says on its website, he brought his message of "good food, honestly prepared with fresh, wholesome, American ingredients, to a country just becoming aware of its own culinary heritage."

Now the foundation celebrates its own 25th anniversary of celebrating and supporting great American chefs with a cookbook. The James Beard Foundation's Best of the Best: A 25th Anniversary Celebration of America's Outstanding Chefs, published just this month by Chronicle Books, honors the 21 winners of the foundation's prestigious annual Outstanding Chef Award. The list of winners reads like a who's who--from the first recipient, Wolfgang Puck, to Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Alice Waters, Charlie Trotter, Lidia Bastianich, Grant Achatz, Tom Colicchio, and more.

Author Kit Wohl is an award-winning writer, photographer, and artist--and the creator of eight cookbooks that celebrate cuisine and her native New Orleans. For Best of the Best, she spent more than two years working with the 21 chefs. To her, "The book chronicles the rediscovery of American cuisine and uncovers the trajectory of how it has evolved over the past 25 years." It contains profiles of each chef, along with more than 40 recipes. And it's a Character Approved way to celebrate American cuisine in your own kitchen.

[Images: James Beard Foundation]