Class of '96 Hall of Fame Inductees

Ed Cotton ‘96
Distinguished Alumnus

Ed Cotton’s name will be familiar to viewers of the popular cooking competition cable TV show “Top Chef.” Cotton was the runner-up on Season 7, narrowly missing the chance to claim the $125,000 first prize. “I felt it was very rewarding to make it that far,” he said philosophically. “The amazing thing was to be recognized on TV.” At Minuteman, Ed studied Culinary Arts, graduating in 1996.

A Waltham native now based in New York, Ed attended the venerable Culinary Institute of America before working for some of the most illustrious chefs in the nation. While still at Minuteman, Ed worked under Chef Todd English at Olives in Charlestown honing his knife and pastry-making skills, then helping English open another eatery, Figs in Wellesley. Ed proved himself so able that he was asked to open yet another Olives at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, where he was sous chef. Ed next spent several years working with Chef Barbara Lynch at the restaurant No. 9 Park in Boston’s Beacon Hill as executive sous chef. Beginning in 2003 and continuing for the following five years, Ed worked under Chef Daniel Boulud in New York at db Bistro Moderne and Restaurant Daniel. He appeared on TV for six seasons on the Food Network as Chef Cat Cora’s sous chef on “Iron Chef America.” Ed Cotton’s other positions included being executive chef at Plein Sud at the Smyth Hotel in New York; chef de cuisine at BLT Market at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park under Chef Laurent Tourondel; running David Burke’s Fishtail and David Burke’s Townhouse, both in New York; and currently being executive chef at Sotto 13 in the West Village. As for his Minuteman education, Ed says, “I was always supported by the faculty. I’ve always said great things about the programs at the school.”