The five chefs honored on these stamps — James Beard, Julia Child, Joyce Chen, Edna Lewis, and Felipe Rojas-Lombardi — revolutionized our understanding of food. Seeing cooking as a source of delight, they invited us to feast on regional and international flavors and were early but ardent champions of trends that many foodies now take for granted. As they shared their know-how, they encouraged us to undertake our own culinary adventures.

By bringing such quintessential dishes as shrimp and grits and roast chicken to the plates of trendy restaurants, Edna Lewis (1916–2006) showed her fellow Americans the vitality of Southern cooking.