Find Your True North

Seamus Mullen

Seamus Mullen is an award-winning New York chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and health and wellness expert. He opened his first solo restaurant Tertulia in Manhattan in 2011, which garnered two stars from The New York Times and was a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant. In 2013, he opened El Colmado, a Spanish tapas and wine bar at Gotham West Market, a food hall in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen. He was awarded “Chef of the Year” by Time Out New York and has been named a semi-finalist for Best Chef NYC by the James Beard Foundation 3 years in a row. Seamus grew up on an organic farm in Vermont and learned from a young age the value of eating real, whole foods. After cooking throughout Spain, New York and San Francisco, Seamus first rose to national prominence in 2006 with Boqueria, one of the first critically acclaimed and highly successful Spanish restaurants in New York, and where he became known for his inventive yet approachable modern Spanish cuisine.

In 2009, he was one of 3 finalists on the Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef.” He is now often featured as a guest judge on the popular Food Network series “Chopped” and “Beat Bobby Flay,” and is a frequent guest on programs such as The Today Show, The Dr. Oz Show, The Martha Stewart Show, and CBS This Morning. More recently, Seamus has become a leading authority in the conversation on food, health and wellness. An avid cyclist who raced competitively in his twenties, he was diagnosed in 2007 with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, that forced him to rethink his relationship with food, and led to his first cookbook Hero Food, published in 2012. Through food, exercise and lifestyle changes, Seamus was able to successfully turn his health around and overcome what is commonly considered to be an incurable disease. He shares his story through numerous speaking engagements around the country, and has been featured in major publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Chicago-Tribune, and The Guardian.

Seamus has written about his experience for The New York Times and through his bimonthly column in Men’s Journal. As a testament to his newly reclaimed health, in November 2014 he raced in La Ruta de Los Conquistadores, one of the most challenging mountain bike races in the world. Most recently, he partnered with Wanderlust, a global yoga lifestyle event producer, to oversee the food & beverage program for their first flagship wellness center Wanderlust Hollywood, creating a menu of delicious, healthful, and nourishing dishes. Seamus works directly with a number of leading brands in the food and hospitality industry to help them better align their products and services with his principles of wellness. Seamus has joined the Be Well team as Chief Wellness Advisor and oversees all aspects of Be Well’s culinary programing. In August of 2017 Seamus will release his second cookbook “Real Food Heals: Eat to Feel Younger + Stronger Every Day” published by Avery.

Check out this exclusive article on Seamus Mullen.