Bennett Rea

Bennett Rea is the writer, chef and creator behind Cookin’ with Congress, the viral social media series with half a million followers where he recreates unhinged recipes from politicians, eats like presidents, and connects to everyday people through the insanity of American food. His writing has been featured in Food & Wine, Business Insider, Atlas Obscura and Cracked, and he trained in improv at UCB Los Angeles and iO West. Bennett earned his BA in Politics and went on to work in F&B for six years before becoming a freelance writer and creating Cookin’ with Congress. Now, the video series garners 15 million views a month and has been featured on NPR, NBC California, Eater, The Los Angeles Times and many other outlets, blending history, satire, fun, education, joyous disgust and a true love for everyday folks while roasting (sometimes literally) the foods of powerful politicians. Bennett is a practiced speaker, presenting at colleges, universities and other venues on the nexus of food and politicians and the creative journey of being a full-time social media creator. When Bennett was six years old, he wanted to be the President of the United States and a chef at the same time. This is close enough.