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Chandra Ram ’99
Editor
Plate
Ms. Ram brings more than 15 years in the foodservice industry to her work for Plate. She was a consulting chef to foodservice manufacturers, commodity boards, and operators throughout the United States and England, and worked as a caterer and a food industry marketing and public relations consultant before turning her focus to food writing and editing.
A 1999 associate in culinary arts graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Ms. Ram previously earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Loyola University Chicago in 1995. She also passed the Court of Master Sommeliers certificate-level examination.
Launched in 2002, Plate is a six-time American Business Media Jesse H. Neal Award winner for Outstanding Journalism, and in 2012 won for Best Single Issue: Chocolate. The magazine is also a finalist in the 2012 FOLIO: magazine’s Eddie and Ozzie Awards for best food trade magazine and best cover.
In addition to her work at Plate, Chandra Ram finds time to connect with and contribute her expertise to the industry, her community, and her alma matter. Ms. Ram is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chefs Awards Committee. She also serves on the board of directors for Meals on Wheels Chicago and is co-chair of the organization’s annual Celebrity Chef Ball. And she has been a frequent attendee and presenter at the The Culinary Institute of America’s Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival hosted at the college’s Greystone campus in St. Helena, CA. This year, she is a panel discussion moderator at the event.
Ms. Ram is the co-author of The Eiffel Tower Restaurant Cookbook: Capturing the Magic of Paris.
Angelo Sosa ’97
Executive Chef/Co-owner
Social Eatz and Añejo Tequilaria y Restaurante
Angelo Sosa is executive chef/co-owner of two Manhattan restaurants: Social Eatz and Añejo Tequilaria y Restaurante. He is also owner of Sosa Consulting Group.
After graduating from The Culinary Institute of America with high honors, Chef Sosa went to work on the line for Christian Bertrand at the four-diamond Stonehenge Restaurant & Inn in Ridgefield, CT, and later served as Chef Bertrand’s sous chef at Acqua when it opened in 1998. The following year, Chef Sosa was referred by Chef Bertrand to work with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, his future mentor. After two and a half years, Chef Sosa left to take an executive sous chef position at TanDa, located on New York’s Park Avenue. A year later, he returned to Chef Vongerichten’s employ at the Ocean Club at Dune restaurant in the Bahamas. Chef Sosa then went back to New York to serve as executive sous chef at Jean-Georges before joining the opening team for Spice Market, also as executive sous chef. In 2005, Chef Sosa became the executive chef at Yumcha in the West Village, where his interpretation of modern Chinese cuisine gained widespread acclaim. Later that year, he turned his attention to consulting for top restaurants such as Stephen Starr’s Buddakan, Masaharu Morimoto’s Morimoto, and Alain Ducasse’s Spoon.
In 2009, Chef Sosa launched his first restaurant, the fast-casual concept Xie Xie, and quickly earned StarChefs.com’s New York’s Rising Star award for “Best New Restaurant Concept.” In 2010, he was cast as a Season 7 “cheftestant” on Bravo’s hit reality show Top Chef, and later competed on Top Chef All-Stars. It was as the show drew to a close that Chef Sosa launched Social Eatz, a gastropub whose menu reinterprets New York City staples with flavors from across Asia. Within just seven months of opening, Social Eatz was named Best Burger in New York City (and shortly after that, best in the nation) in Eater.com’s readers’ choice poll. Chef Sosa next focused his attention on the West Coast, consulting on a menu revamp at the iconic Malibu Inn and joining SmithHouse Tap and Grill as consulting chef. In January 2012, he made his triumphant return to the East Coast with the award-winning Añejo Tequilaria y Restaurante, which offers his modern take on traditional Mexican cuisine.
His first cookbook, Flavor Exposed: 100 Global Recipes from Sweet to Salty, Earthy to Spicy, was released in 2012.