Superstar Sommelier Bobby Stuckey to Receive Julia Child Award

Alice Waters Announced Honor for Restauranteur During Santa Barbara Culinary Experience

Credit: Casey Wilson

One culinary legend shined a bright light on another in Summerland on Thursday night, when the renowned chef and Chez Panisse restaurant owner Alice Waters opened a golden envelope and announced, “The 2025 Julia Child Award recipient is Bobby Stuckey.” One of the most respected sommeliers in the world, Stuckey cofounded Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado in 2004, and has since become a leader for the entire hospitality industry.

Alice Waters and Eric Spivey | Credit: Veronica Slavin

Waters, who was bestowed this very same award in 2024, appeared pleasingly surprised by the news. Due to her recent turn on the Netflix series Chef’s Table: Legends, Waters recently perused the wine collection that Stuckey helped develop during his days at the French Laundry, and it was all of her favorite wines.

The presentation to a small crowd of about 40 people at Godmothers bookstore occurred amidst the ongoing Santa Barbara Culinary Experience, a weeklong collection of food & drink events happening throughout Santa Barbara County. The SBCE is the West Coast offshoot of the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, which is the entity that started giving out the Julia Child Award in 2015. Previous recipients also include Jose Andres, Danny Meyer, Sue Milliken, Tony Tipton-Martin, and Jacques Pepin, among others.

Stuckey is the 11th recipient, and will be honored during a gala this fall, which is usually held at the Smithsonian Museum. “He calls himself the ‘hospitalian,” said the foundation’s chair Eric W. Spivey, who lives in Santa Barbara and also co-founded the SBCE. “He is our first sommelier, our first wine-oriented recipient of the Julia Child Award, which we’re really thrilled about.”

Today, Stuckey is best known for the Frasca Hospitality Group in Colorado, which operates the flagship Frasca and five other restaurants in Colorado. But prior to opening Frasca in 2004, Stuckey worked at The Little Nell in Aspen and The French Laundry in Napa, considered two of the top fine dining establishments in the country. He’s also a co-founder of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, an advocacy group launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stuckey wasn’t aware that he was even being considered for the award when he got the call from Spivey. “I was really quite overwhelmed, and very humbled and honored,” said Stuckey. “You look at that list of the people before me — the whole industry lays its weight on their shoulders.”

Stuckey waited on Child herself numerous times. “I got to take care of Julia at the Little Nell 30 years ago, and again 25 years ago at the French Laundry,” said Stuckey, whose favorite memory is the day he served both Child and the legendary violin teacher Dorothy DeLay on the same day in 1995. “To have Julia and Dororthy at the same lunch but at different tables, it’s still the most star-studded lunch I ever worked.”

His memories of Julia Child go back to childhood, when his mom was a fan. “She meant so much to people growing up in the late ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Stuckey, who appreciates how she demystified and democratized the kitchen. “The bravery of embracing cooking like she did had an amazing impact. People can now say, ‘Hey, I don’t have to grow up surrounded by culinary arts to be participating in the culinary arts.’ Maybe we don’t talk about that enough.”

Frasca Dinner with Provost Pugleisi | Credit: Casey Wilson
Lachlan Patterson, Thomas Keller, Bobby Stuckey | Credit: Courtesy
Credit: Courtesy
Frasca, the Little Nell Preview | Credit: Megan Wynn Photography
Bobby Stuckey | Credit: Casey Wilson

That the Julia Child Award is going to someone whose career is based in wine is a strong reminder that this ancient beverage remains a critical part of the hospitality equation, even amidst headlines about a struggling wine industry.

“Wine is like a Hermes tie — it’s not gonna go out of style,” said Stuckey. “We have moments when people don’t think it’s popular, and I feel bad for them. When you have great food and wine at the dinner table, it’s a positive experience where one plus one does not equal two. The mathematics is far greater.”

As part of the award, the Julia Child Foundation will be donating $50,000 to support The Bobby and Danette Stuckey Endowed Scholarship for the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Northern Arizona University, his alma mater. That program is focused on helping first-generation college students achieve their degrees. “That’s very important to myself and my wife,” said Stuckey.

For more, see juliachildfoundation.org and juliachildaward.com.