Tom Colicchio
Tom Colicchio
Head Judge of Bravo's Top Chef
One of the culinary world's most celebrated figures, Tom Colicchio is the lead judge for Bravo's Emmy and James Beard Award-winning culinary series Top Chef which just concluded its ninth season. He also serves as mentor to the competing chefs on the series, guiding them through their various challenges.
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Tom 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. Tom 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.
He 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 ten "Best New Chefs" in the United States and The New York Times awarded the restaurant three stars.
In July of 1994, Tom, along with partner Danny Meyer, opened Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood. His cooking at Gramercy Tavern won consistent recognition and earned him The James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef-New York in 2000.
One year later, and one block south of Gramercy Tavern, he opened Craft. In 2002, Craft was awarded The James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant and Tom received Bon Appétit's American Food and Entertaining Award for Chef of the Year.
Next, he opened Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in July 2002. In spring 2003, 'wichcraft opened –- a sandwich shop rooted in the same food and hospitality philosophies as Craft. Today ‘wichcraft has 14 New York City locations, as well as locations at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the Westfield Center in San Francisco.
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 fall of 2008.
Tom has published three cookbooks to date. The first, "Think Like a Chef", won The James Beard KitchenAid Cookbook Award in May 2001. His second cookbook, "Craft of Cooking", was released in October 2003. A sandwich book inspired by 'wichcraft was released in March 2009.
Colicchio & Sons (formerly Craftsteak NY) was opened in New York in January 2010. He improvises and explores with small-batch ingredients from the micro-producers and family farmers with whom he has forged decades-long relationships. Colicchio & Sons earned a glowing three-star review by Sam Sifton of The New York Times.
In May 2010, Tom was awarded The James Beard Foundation’s coveted “Outstanding Chef” award, the culmination of his 30 years of hard work in the restaurant industry. He most recently opened Riverpark in October 2010.
Tom won an Emmy award in 2010 for Outstanding Reality-Competition Programming as an executive producer of Top Chef.
Tom Colicchio at the Internet Movie Database