DCP design released September 28th:

Images added September 19th. First day ceremony info below; this writeup is from the September 18th Postal Bulletin:

On September 26, 2014, in Chicago, IL, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Celebrity Chefs stamps (Forever First-Class Mail® priced at 49-cents) in five designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 472300).

The stamps will go on sale nationwide September 26, 2014.

The five chefs honored on these stamps — James Beard, Julia Child, Joyce Chen, Edna Lewis, and Felipe Rojas-Lombardi — revolutionized our understanding of food. Seeing cooking as a source of delight, they invited us to feast on regional and international flavors and were early but ardent champions of trends that many foodies now take for granted. The stamps feature digital illustrations by Jason Seiler that depict the five chefs in a style intended to resemble oil paintings. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Celebrity Chefs
Retail Specialist
433 West Harrison Street
Chicago, IL 60699-9611

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by November 26, 2014.

There are nine philatelic products available for this stamp issue:
472306, Press Sheet with Die cuts, $88.20 (print quantity 1,000).
472308, Press Sheet without Die cuts, $88.20 (print quantity 1,500).
472310 Keepsake (Pane and Digital Color Postmark Set of 5), $18.95.
472316 First-Day Cover, Set of 5, $4.65.
472321 Digital Color Postmark, Set of 5, $8.20.
472324 Framed Art, $39.95.
472330 Ceremony Program (random stamp), $6.95.
472331 Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.
472332 Stamp Deck Card with Digital Color Postmark (random stamp), $1.99.

Technical Specifications:
Issue: Celebrity Chefs Stamps
Item Number: 472300
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (5 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: September 26, 2014, Chicago,
IL 60699
Designer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Art Director: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Typographer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Artist: Jason Seiler, Chicago, IL
Engraver: N/A
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 20 million stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive adhesive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, PMS Cool Gray #10C
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.84 x 1.42 in./21.337 x 36.07 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.98 x 1.56 in./24.89 x 39.62 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 8.50 x 6.50 in./215.90 x 165.10 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 25.75 x 19.75 in./654.05 x 501.65 mm
Plate Size: 180 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by five (5) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header, Plate numbers in two corners of pane
Back: © 2014 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Barcode (472300),verso text • Promotional text

Celebrity Chefs first day ceremony info, from the USPS on September 8th:

The event is free and open to the public.

WHEN:
11 a.m. CST, Fri., Sept. 26, 2014
Media check-in begins at 10:30 a.m. CST at the Park Grill

WHERE:    Chicago Gourmet
Park Grill, Millennium Park
11 N Michigan Ave.
Chicago IL 60602

August 27th: From the USPS main shopping website:

James Beard
Julia Child
Joyce Chen
Edna Lewis
Felipe Rojas-Lombardi

Added August 8th: Linn’s Stamp News reports these stamps will be issued September 26th in Chicago. VSC sees Chicago Gourmet scheduled to open on that date, which showcases “more than 150 of Chicago’s finest restaurants and chefs,” according to its website. The U.S. Postal Service is listed as one of the sponsors, and the hyperlink goes to the /stamps portion of the USPS website. The 2014 schedule for Chicago Gourmet is not yet posted.

August 21st: The USPS confirms all of the above, plus James Beard as one of the subjects.

“An inspiration to generations of amateur cooks and professional chefs alike, teacher and author James Beard (1903–1985) avidly fostered a more vibrant food culture in the United States. He was a passionate advocate of local ingredients and markets, his popular books covered everything from seafood to bread, and he reveled in the discovery of worldly, exotic flavors—but his cultivated palate was also famously receptive to such simple pleasures as onion sandwiches and perfectly baked potatoes.”

About the stamps in general, the USPS says, they “feature digital illustrations by Jason Seiler that depict the five chefs in a style intended to resemble oil paintings. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps. The selvage consists of a fine white linen tablecloth and a white china dish.”

The USPS would neither confirm nor deny that Julia Child will be one of the other subjects.