You’ve seen those trees that trace the influence of one chef, say Wolfgang Puck, showing branches representing all the chefs he mentored and then all the chefs mentored by his students.

It seems that food sector analysts at HartmanSalt (part of the Hartman Group) took that idea one step further and came up with a subway-style map showing many of the main characters in American cuisine:

From chefs and the media, to packaged goods and food politics, these “stops” are suggestive of the people, places and things that have influenced the food world (some more directly than others), thereby becoming part of our Greater Food Culture. Take a ride on the Modern Line, stopping off at Thomas Keller and then maybe head onto the Global Line, paying a visit to David Chang. Wherever you go, you’re likely to learn a bit, be entertained and most certainly eat quite well.

A lot of the map makes sense: Super Chef spotted Norman Van Aken on the Global Line one stop from Rene Redzepi, who is also on the Local Line. Norman is also two stops from Rick Bayless.

A symbol for On Air links Julia Child to Rachael Ray.

In short, this map helps diners conceptualize relationships between great chefs and their cuisine.

Click here to ride the rails and find out more about each stop.

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