Elizabeth Falkner

Elizabeth Falkner is an American chef and restaurateur, born in 1966 in San Francisco, California. Raised in Southern California, she graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1989 with a BFA degree. Falkner started her culinary career as a dishwasher at French bistro Cafe Claude before working at Masa's with Chef Julian Serrano. She then became the pastry chef at Elka in the Miyako Hotel and later worked under chef Traci Des Jardins at Drew Nieporent's restaurant Rubicon. In 1997, Falkner opened Citizen Cake, a dessert cafe in San Francisco. She has since appeared as a competitor and judge on reality television cooking competitions, including the Top Chef series.