Gabriele Bonci

Gabriele Bonci is an Italian chef who specializes in pizza al taglio. He became well known as a television personality in Italy.

Early life and education Bonci was born to Severina and Sergio. His mother's family were farmers in Agro Pontino. His father's family ran a trattoria in Cupramontana. He became interested in baking after observing his mother leaving dough to rise beneath a radiator when the family left the house to attend church.

Bonci attended cooking school against his family's wishes. and by Katie Parla and Kristin Gill, authors of Tasting Rome, "Rome's landmark pizza by the slice joint". He opened a Chicago pizzeria with American partner Rick Tasman in 2017.

He experimented with fried pasta balls similar to the fried balls of risotto he'd grown up eating. He was invited on a television program.

The pressure of sustaining the persona caused him to retreat from the public view. As of the early 2020s he says he considers himself not a pizzaiolo but a farmer. It filmed in cities around Italy. in West Loop, Chicago. A second Chicago pizzeria opened in Wicker Park, Chicago, but later shut down. Bonci opened a pizzeria in 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana; it later closed. In 2021 Bonci opened a pizzeria in Miami, Florida in Wynwood; it later closed. In 2023 the brand opened another location in Chicago, choosing the Lincoln Park neighborhood. By April 2024 the brand had three Chicago locations after opening in the Lake View, neighborhood.

Approach

Ingredients Bonci focuses on higher-quality ingredients such as flour from Piedmont artisanal producer Mulino Marino.

Technique Bonci uses breadmaking techniques, such as a long-fermentation method at low temperatures, which encourages the development of complex flavors in the dough. He does not knead. The Los Angeles Times called him "Rome's phenomenal pizza master". la Repubblica said that with Stefano Bonilli he had "inaugurated an era". Anthony Bourdain joked that in order to get Bonci's pizza, people should, "Leave your family, abandon your children". Mashed said he'd "reinvented the Roman idea of pizza". They credited him with raising Roman pizza to national importance.

Netflix included him in their Chef's Table documentary series.

Personal life Bonci describes himself as a "big child. Big and round. Beautifully round". He started to cook at 14 and says that from then on he knew he wanted to cook and never wanted to do anything else. He has said that he became confused between where the dividing line between Gabriele Bonci and the character Bonci was, calling the character his "clown costume" and the jingle "the red nose". In 2022 he describes having to kill the character in order to himself survive. At the time he weighed almost . He decided to have sleeve gastrectomy.