Cooking & Conversation with Tom Colicchio
TOM COLICCHIO's interactive cook and chats are a customized cooking show live at your event. Sleekly produced and approachable, the event is memorable, and guests can cook along at home to create something beautiful from simple ingredients. While he cooks, he shares his work to bolster the restaurant business, behind-the-scenes stories from his hit show Top Chef, and the issue of food security in America.
If he’s feeling inspired, Colicchio may even pull out his guitar to serenade the crowd.
Author Talk: ‘Why I Cook’
Legendary chef TOM COLICCHIO recounts the extraordinary personal journey that brought him from his working-class Italian background in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to the award-winning kitchens of New York City’s best restaurants, to the set of Top Chef and the stage of the Emmy Awards in his newest cookbook and memoir Why I Cook. At his book events, Colicchio connects his favorite recipes to his most enlightening personal stories as seen on ABC News, Good Morning America, and more.
Please reach out for information on book buys and signings.
At “Cooking for Kamala,” many of HWA’s chefs connect their taste in policy to food
Many of the world’s best chefs and restaurateurs joined Cooking for Kamala, a virtual Zoom fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign which generated $222,955. Starring guest TOM COLICCHIO even pulled out his guitar, serenading the kitchen with a rendition of “Eyes on the Prize.” Colicchio was joined by HWA speakers GAIL SIMMONS, GIADA DE LAURENTIIS, and more.
Tom Colicchio inspires audiences at the Global Citizen NOW Summit
Legendary celebrity chef TOM COLICCHIO headlined the Global Citizen NOW Action Summit to discuss how action now can save tomorrow. As an avid advocate for food-related issues in climate and social change, Colicchio’s philanthropic resume includes organizations Children of Bellevue, City Harvest, Alex’s Lemonade Foundation, United Way of New York, and Food Bank for New York City. Colicchio is an inspirational speaker for any fundraiser seeking to make an impact, leaving audiences with actionable takeaways.
Tom Colicchio’s latest book, Why I Cook, is equal parts memoir and cookbook
Now for the first time ever in his new book Why I Cook, TOM COLICCHIO recounts the extraordinary personal journey that brought him from his working-class Italian background in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to the award-winning kitchens of New York City’s best restaurants, to the set of Top Chef and the stage of the Emmy Awards. Through these meaningful dishes, gorgeous recipe shots, and images from Tom’s childhood, book talks on Why I Cook are the most personal look into Tom’s life yet.
Tom Colicchio 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 age 17, Tom made his kitchen debut in his native town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, at Evelyn’s Seafood Restaurant.
Colicchio then cooked at prominent New York restaurants including 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 U.S. and The New York Times awarded the restaurant three stars.
In July 1994, Tom and his business partner Danny Meyer opened Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park neighborhood. Tom’s cooking at Gramercy Tavern won consistent recognition, garnering three stars from Ruth Reichl of The New York Times and earning him The James Beard Foundation’s 2000 “Best Chef-New York” Award.
In 2001, Tom opened Craft one block south of Gramercy Tavern. Soon after, The New York Times awarded Craft with three stars, deeming the restaurant “a vision of food heaven.” Craft was awarded The James Beard Foundation Award for “Best New Restaurant” in 2002. That same year, Tom received The Bon Appétit American Food and Entertaining Award for “Chef of the Year.” The New York Times revisited Craft in September 2011, ten years after its debut, upholding its three stars and stating that the restaurant is “as magical and delicious as it was when it opened.”
Crafted Hospitality, currently includes New York’s Craft, Riverpark, and Temple Court; Craft Los Angeles; Las Vegas’ Heritage Steak and Craftsteak; and Small Batch in Garden City, NY.
Tom has published three cookbooks to date. The first, Think Like a Chef (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2000), won The James Beard Foundation “KitchenAid” Cookbook Award in May 2001. Tom’s second cookbook, Craft of Cooking, was released by Clarkson Potter/Publishers in 2003. A sandwich book inspired by ‘wichcraft, was released by Clarkson Potter/Publishers in March 2009.
Since 2006, Tom has been applying his experience and expertise to cable television as the head judge on Bravo’s hit reality cooking series Top Chef. The Emmy-winning show is currently in its 18th season.
In May of 2010, Colicchio was awarded The James Beard Foundation’s coveted “Outstanding Chef” award, the culmination of his 30 years of hard work in the restaurant industry.
Tom appears in and served as Executive Producer on A Place at the Table, Participant Media’s documentary about food and security in America. It was produced and directed by Kristi Jacobson and Colicchio’s wife Lori Silverbush and premiered at the 2012 Sundace Film Film Festival. Magnolia Pictures released the film on March 1, 2013.
Tom and his restaurants give back to the community by supporting charities including Children of Bellevue, City Harvest, Alex’s Lemonade Foundation, United Way of New York, and Food Bank for New York City. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Lori Silverbush, and three sons.
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