Tom Colicchio

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Award-Winning Chef and Restaurateur
TV Personality and Head Judge, Bravo's 'Top Chef'
Author of Several Bestselling Cookbooks
Recipient of the Prestigious James Beard Foundation "Outstanding Chef" Award

At 17, Tom Colicchio stepped into his first professional kitchen. Today, he sets the standard for an entire industry.

An 8-time James Beard Award–winning chef and the force behind Crafted Hospitality, Tom Colicchio has spent decades defining what excellence looks like in American restaurants, from Craft and Temple Court in New York to Craftsteak in Las Vegas. But his influence reaches far beyond the kitchen. As head judge and executive producer of Bravo’s Emmy-winning Top Chef, Colicchio has helped shape how millions understand taste, leadership, and decision-making under pressure.

That same clarity drives his work off the line. A leading voice in food policy, Colicchio has become one of the country’s most prominent “Citizen Chefs,” advocating for a food system centered on access, affordability, and nutrition. From executive producing the documentary A Place at the Table to working alongside policymakers in Washington and partnering with leaders like Michelle Obama on the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, he brings real-world urgency to conversations around equity and systemic change.

A bestselling author, podcast host of Citizen Chef, and frequent media voice across MSNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg, Colicchio connects culture, policy, and business in a way few can. He has published four cookbooks to date. His latest, Why I Cook, is also a memoir of his outstanding career. On stage, he translates decades of high-stakes decision-making into insights on leadership, resilience, and accountability, showing audiences what it takes to build something that lasts and why the smallest choices often carry the biggest consequences.

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Tom Colicchio: Why I Cook

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Virtual Cooking Demo - Making Your Food Go Further w Two Good Yogurt | FB Live [4:09]

Keynote- The Food Movement: Changing the Way We Eat | TEDxManhattan [13:02]

In Conversation- Tom Colicchio Talks His Career in the Kitchen and On Screen | [43:16]

Talks & Conversations with Tom Colicchio

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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.

Books by Tom Colicchio

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Biography

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Tom Colicchio is an 8-time James Beard Award winning chef, and the owner of Crafted Hospitality, which includes New York City’s Craft, Temple Court and Vallata; Las Vegas’ Craftsteak, and Small Batch in Garden City, NY. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Tom made his New York cooking debut at prominent New York restaurants including The Quilted Giraffe, Gotham Bar & Grill and Gramercy Tavern before opening Craft in 2001.

A vocal and outspoken social justice advocate, Tom executive produced the 2013 documentary “A Place at the Table” about the underlying causes of hunger in the U.S. This eye-opening experience led Tom on a journey to Washington DC where he has been a mainstay in our nation’s capital in the years since. From holding members of Congress accountable on their voting records around food to working with former FLOTUS Michelle Obama on the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, Tom has established himself as the leading “Citizen Chef” advocating for a food system that values access, affordability and nutrition over corporate interests.

He is a frequent contributor on several television shows and networks, including MSNBC, CNN, ABC and Bloomberg and is the host of the iHeart Radio podcast, Citizen Chef. Tom is the head judge and executive producer of the Emmy-winning Bravo hit series, Top Chef. He is the star and executive producer a new show titled ‘The Pantry’ with Spirits Network. His newest book, Why I Cook, both memoir and cookbook, was released in fall 2024 and was a Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year.

Tom and his restaurants give back to the community through their impact partnerships with organizations such as Children of Bellevue, City Harvest, and Southern Smoke Foundation. He is a founding member of The Independent Restaurant Coalition, which was formed to save the local restaurants and bars affected by COVID-19 and the subsequent economic fallout.

He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Lori Silverbush and their three sons. When not in the kitchen, Tom can be found tending his North Fork Long Island garden, fishing, or playing guitar.

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Tom Colicchio

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