Mason Hereford is the chef and owner of Turkey and the Wolf, a counter service-only joint that Food & Wine and Esquire listed as one of the most important restaurants of the decade, and Bon Appetit named the number one Best New Restaurant in America in 2017. He also owns Molly’s Rise and Shine, a breakfast spot nearby that Food & Wine named one of the ten Best New Restaurants in America in 2020. His cookbook, Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin‘ in New Orleans, became a New York Times Bestseller, after the first shipment spent months lost at sea. Since then, Food & Wine named it one of the 35 Best Cookbooks of All Time. Mason, Turkey and the Wolf restaurant, the cookbook, and his co-chefs turned partners at Molly’s Rise and Shine, have all separately pulled the wool over the eyes of the ol’ James Beard Foundation and received award nominations. Most recently, Mason was nominated in the category of Outstanding Restauranteur.

In late 2023, Mason partnered with co-chef of Turkey and the Wolf, Philip Cenac, GM Lahzie Takata, and his wonderful wife, Lauren Agudo, to open a restaurant called Hungry Eyes. They serve luxury drinking food, zippy natural wines, and lipstick smeared martinis in a little spot on Magazine Street in New Orleans that looks like an 80s night club and nail salon had a lovechild. Hungry Eyes was named one of the Best New Restaurants in America by both Esquire (2023) and Bon Appetit (2024).

Summer 2024, Mason partnered with long time Turkey and the Wolf chef, Nathan Barfield, to open Hot Stuff, a southern cafeteria style, meat-and-3 restaurant. Smells of fried pork chops, smoked chicken, and black eyed peas hang around the back door like an old familiar tune. Esquire anointed Hot Stuff as the Bathroom of the Year as part of their most recent Best New Restaurants in America list.

Early 2025 marked the opening of Turkey and the Wolf Icehouse, a fully outdoor beer-centric version of Turkey and the Wolf with a revamped menu in Nashville, TN, and Turkey and the Wolf Rise and Shine in the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. 

Mason was born and raised on rollerblades and gas station food in rural Virginia. He once appeared in a Duke’s Mayonnaise commercial that still plays on actual TV. He knows Guy Fieri and Jennifer Coolidge, and has both of their phone numbers. He currently lives in New Orleans and will never leave, except to Nashville and occasionally Vegas. The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

Generously supported by John & Monica Isgren