Odessa Piper is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 restaurateur

Restaurateur

A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...

 and chef

Chef

A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...

.

Piper grew up in New England, and developed an interest in food when she worked at a farm in Canaan

Canaan, New Hampshire

Canaan is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,909 at the 2010 census. It is the location of Mascoma State Forest...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, which was led by a group that was interested in sustainable agriculture.

In 1969, Piper moved to Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

, and worked with a mentor, JoAnna Guthrie, in Guthrie's restaurant, Ovens of Brittany. Piper was influenced by Guthrie, who used organic meats and produce that had been harvested or produced locally. http://www.news.wisc.edu/commencement/piper.html

Piper and a partner co-founded the restaurant L'Etoile in Madison in 1976; Piper eventually assumed full ownership of the restaurant. Like Ovens of Brittany, the restaurant uses local meat and produce, including the wares of local farmers that are featured at the noted Dane County Farmers' Market (which occurs adjacent to the restaurant). L'Etoile is part of a late 20th century movement among some restaurants to create local cuisine using only regional food ingredients. (Other such restaurants include Alice Waters

Alice Waters

Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine.Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked...

' Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse

Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant known for using local, organic foods and credited as the inspiration for the style of cooking known as California cuisine. Well-known restauranteur, author, and food activist Alice Waters co-founded Chez Panisse in 1971 with film producer Paul...

 in Berkeley, California

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

 and Sinclair and Frederique Philip's Sooke Harbour House

Sooke Harbour House

The Sooke Harbour House is an inn and restaurant located in Sooke, British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It was one of the first restaurants to devote itself to local foods , having done so since 1979...

 on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.) Piper sold the restaurant in 2005. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=510985

Piper's work has been featured in Fine Cooking, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and Wine Spectator; she has been featured on NPR

NPR

NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

 and on Wisconsin Public Radio. Her creations have appeared in many restaurants and on the menu at the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

. http://www.starchefs.com/features/women/html/bio_piper.shtml

Odessa Piper is married to the international wine importer, Terry Theise.