CRAFTSTEAK
Tom Colicchio
Chef/Creator

Tom Colicchio, born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, spent his childhood immersed in food, cooking with his mother and grandmother. However, it was his father 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 seventeen, Tom made his kitchen debut in his native town of Elizabeth at Evelyn’s Seafood Restaurant.
 Tom continued to cook at prominent New York restaurants such as The Quilted Giraffe (where after just four months he was promoted to sous chef), Gotham Bar & Grill, Rakel, and Mondrian. During Tom’s 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. In 1996, Ruth Reichl of the New York Times awarded Gramercy Tavern and Tom Colicchio three stars noting that Tom was “cooking with extraordinary confidence, creating dishes characterized by bold flavors and unusual harmonies.” Tom’s cooking at Gramercy earned consistent recognition: After a three-time nomination for James Beard’s Best Chef New York Award, he won it in 2000.

One year later, and one block south of Gramercy Tavern, in March 2001, Tom opened Craft. Soon thereafter, in July 2001, William Grimes, current New York Times reviewer, awarded Craft with its three stars naming Craft “a vision of food heaven.” Tom continues to be celebrated in publications such as Saveur, House Beautiful, Gourmet, Food & Wine Magazine, Esquire, GQ and New York Magazine. His first cookbook, Think Like a Chef, published last fall by Clarkson-Potter won a James Beard KitchenAid Cookbook Award in May 2001. This same year, Gramercy Tavern was awarded for Outstanding Service. In 2002, Craft was awarded the James Beard Best New Restaurant Award and Gramercy Tavern’s sommelier won for Outstanding Wine Service.

In addition to Gramercy Tavern, Craft and CraftBar, Tom consults on several projects: In Manhattan, Sotheby’s new restaurant, Bid, and Voysey’s on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Tom is now creating CraftSteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to open in June 2002. With the opening of CraftBar in January, Tom introduced CraftKitchen, a line of olive oils and condiments he imports from Calabria, Italy.  

 Tom and his restaurants are involved with many of the community’s charities including Share Our Strength, Children of Bellevue, The College Fund, Kids for Kids, and many others.

Tom serves on the Board of Directors of Avero Inc., a provider of Web-based software applications for operations of the hospitality industry.  When he is not in one kitchen or the other, Tom would most like to be fly-fishing in some remote corner of the world. A big fan of “catch and release,” you can be certain that the world’s great game fish will never find their way onto his menu.