Restaurateur Dan Barber will be the featured speaker March 28 in the Entrepreneurship in the Life Sciences Lecture Series. His lecture, "Cultivating Flavor -- A Recipe for the Recipe," at 7:30 p.m. in Kennedy Hall's David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, is free and open to the public.

Barber is executive chef and co-owner of Blue Hill restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village, which he opened in 2000. He serves on the board of directors of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture -- where Cornell researchers have been involved in plant breeding -- in New York's Hudson Valley. His writings on food and agricultural policy have appeared in several publications including The New York Times, Gourmet, The Nation, and Food and Wine.

Barber opened a test kitchen in 2008 at his Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant to study the relationship between growing methods and the flavor qualities of food, with a focus on ecological and sustainable agricultural practices.

By bringing the principles of good farming directly to the table, Barber has worked to create a consciousness around everyday food choices. He was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2009 and has received James Beard Awards for Best Chef in New York City (2006) and Outstanding Chef (2009). He was a presenter at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 in Switzerland and the 2010 TED Conference, and has been appointed by President Barack Obama to the President's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

Professor Robin Davisson will accompany Barber on a tour of EcoVillage during his visit to Ithaca.

Barber's lecture is sponsored by the Department of Applied Economics and Management and Cornell's Office of Government and Community Relations.