Thomas Patrick Colicchio (/koʊˈliːkjoʊ/; born August 15, 1962) is an Americancelebrity chef. He co-founded theGramercy Tavern inNew York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Crafted Hospitality, which includes Craft (NYC and Los Angeles), Temple Court (NYC), Craftsteak (MGM Grand Las Vegas) and Small Batch (Long Island) restaurants. Colicchio is the recipient of fiveJames Beard Foundation Awards for cooking accomplishments.
Colicchio was born inElizabeth, New Jersey, the middle son of Beverly Ann (née Corvelli) and Thomas Patrick Colicchio.[3][4] He has an older brother Michael and a younger brother Philip John. His mother worked in a schoollunchroom.[5] His father was aunion organizer.[6] He is of Italian descent on both sides.[7] He graduated in 1980 fromElizabeth High School.[8]
In the mid-1980s, Colicchio served as a sous-chef toThomas Keller atRakel in Manhattan.[9][10]
In July 1994, Colicchio and his partnerDanny Meyer opened the Gramercy Tavern in theGramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan. It was voted Most Popular Restaurant in New York City by theZagat Survey in 2003 and 2005. He sold his interest in 2006 and is no longer affiliated with the restaurant.[11]
In spring 2001, he opened the first Craft restaurant one block south of Gramercy Tavern. A year later, he opened the first Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After theSeptember 11 attacks, Colicchio served food to rescue workers at Ground Zero.[12] In 2003, he began the first 'wichcraft, his sandwich shop.
In 2010, he opened Colicchio & Sons, and also Riverpark. Colicchio won the 2010 Outstanding Chef award from theJames Beard Foundation.[13]
Colicchio serves on the Food Council atCity Harvest and the Culinary Council atFood Bank for New York City, two hunger-relief organizations.[15][16] Colicchio has long been involved in food supply chain, restaurant and hunger relief issues.[17]
Colicchio has been involved withTop Chef since its beginning in 2006, where he has served as head judge. He is also the main consulting producer on Bravo'sTop Chef spin-off series entitledTop Chef Masters.[18] He also won anEmmy Award in 2010 for Outstanding Reality-Competition Programming as an executive producer ofTop Chef, on which he appears.[19]
In June 2020, Colicchio launched his podcast, "Citizen Chef" via theiHeartRadio Podcast Network. The seasonal series deals with issues of food, politics, policy and citizenship.[22]
He has been married to filmmaker Lori Silverbush since 2001.[12]He has three sons: Dante (born 1993), his child with an ex-girlfriend,[41] and his two children with Silverbush, Luka Bodhi (born 2009)[42] and Mateo Lev (born 2011).[43]
