Top Chef Tom Colicchio gets cooking at Taste of the NFL

PDF | Print | E-mail

Tom Colicchio is head judge on Bravo’s Emmy and James Beard Award-winning culinary hit series Top Chef.  He also serves as mentor to the competing chefs on the series, guiding them through their various challenges.

Colicchio, born in Elizabeth, NJ, spent his childhood immersed in food, cooking with his mother and grandmother. It was his father, however, who suggested that he make a career of it. Colicchio taught himself to cook with the help of Jacques Pépin's legendary illustrated manuals on French cooking, La Technique and La Méthode. At the age of 17, he made his kitchen debut in his native town of Elizabeth at Evelyn's Seafood Restaurant.

Colicchio then cooked at prominent New York restaurants such as the Quilted Giraffe, Gotham Bar & Grill, Rakel, and Mondrian. During his tenure as executive chef of Mondrian, Food & Wine magazine selected him as one of the top 10 "Best New Chefs" in the United States, and the New York Times awarded the restaurant three stars.

In July 1994, Colicchio, along with partner Danny Meyer, opened Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood. In 1996, Ruth Reichl of the New York Times awarded Gramercy Tavern three stars, noting that Colicchio was "cooking with extraordinary confidence, creating dishes characterized by bold flavors and unusual harmonies." His cooking at Gramercy earned consistent recognition: After three nominations for the James Beard Award for Best Chef-New York, he won it in 2000.

One year later, and one block south of Gramercy Tavern, in March 2001, Colicchio opened Craft. Soon thereafter, in July 2001, William Grimes of the New York Times awarded Craft with three stars, naming Craft "a vision of food heaven."

Colicchio's first cookbook, Think Like a Chef, won the James Beard KitchenAid Cookbook Award in May 2001. The same year, Gramercy Tavern was awarded for Outstanding Service. In 2002, Craft was awarded the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant, and Gramercy Tavern's sommelier won for Outstanding Wine Service. In October 2002, Colicchio received Bon Appétit's American Food and Entertaining Award for Chef of the Year.

After opening Craft and Craftbar in New York City, Colicchio opened Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in July 2002. In spring 2003, he opened 'wichcraft - a sandwich shop rooted in the same food and hospitality philosophies as Craft. 'wichcraft now has 10 New York City locations, plus one in Las Vegas and one in San Francisco.

Colicchio's second cookbook, Craft of Cooking, was released in October 2003. A sandwich book inspired by 'wichcraft is due for release in spring 2009.   Craftsteak New York and Craft Dallas opened in 2006, followed by Craft Los Angeles in the summer of 2007. Craftsteak at the MGM at Foxwoods and Craft Atlanta also opened in the spring and summer of 2008.

Colicchio consults at the restaurants at the Core Club (NYC), Liberty National Golf Club (Jersey City), Voysey's and Tides (Kiawah Island, SC), and Doonbeg (Ireland), all private clubs.

Colicchio and his restaurants give back to the community by supporting charities including Share Our Strength, Children of Bellevue, City Meals-on-Wheels, the College Fund, Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Doctors of the World.