Louisville's own celebrity chef Damaris Phillips to receive 2020 Edison Award

Louisville's own celebrity chef Damaris Phillips is already raking in the awards this year.

This year's Thomas A. Edison Award will be presented by Greater Louisville Inc. to celebrity Phillips at an event on Jan. 23. 

Phillips can be seen on Food Network co-hosting "The Bobby and Damaris Show" with Bobby Flay and "Southern & Hungry" with Rutledge Wood. She won Food Network Star in 2013, impressing judges with her take on Southern cuisine and she also hosted her own show, "Southern at Heart," for five seasons. 

Phillips can be seen on several other shows on the network, including “Guy's Grocery Games,” “Cooks vs. Cons,” “Bakers vs. Fakers,” and “Celebrity Food Fight.”

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A Louisville native, Phillips graduated from Jefferson Community and Technical College with a culinary arts degree. One of five kids, she learned to cook at an early age and was responsible for cooking one night a week for her large family. Her first cookbook, "Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy," was released in October 2017.

The Edison Award was created in 2001 to recognize outstanding former Louisville residents who have successfully pursued their careers while keeping their Louisville roots close at heart. The 2020 award is sponsored by Phillips' alma mater, Jefferson Community and Technical College, and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. 

“GLI recognizes chef Damaris Phillips as a global ambassador for Louisville's unique culinary scene, which has a locally made, farm-to-table focus influenced by culinary adventure and the diverse neighborhood flavors of Vietnamese, Italian, French and Korean cuisines,” GLI President and CEO Keny Oyler said in a release. “We are very proud of chef Phillips and we look forward to honoring her later this month at our annual meeting," at the Kentucky International Convention Center, 221 S. Fourth St.

The Edison Award is not automatically presented each year. Past winners include chef Edward Lee, Mindspring Enterprises founder Charles Brewer and Chef Dean Fearing of Fearing's Restaurant. 

Read this:Louisville chef Damaris Phillips featured in 'Entertainment Weekly' in 2018

Dahlia Ghabour: 502-582-4497; dghabour@gannett.com; Twitter: @dghabour. Support strong journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscriberguide/