Michael Chiarello

Michael Dominic Chiarello (January 26, 1962 – October 6, 2023) was an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and businessperson, who was known for Italian-influenced California cuisine. He hosted the cooking TV shows Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello on Food Network and NapaStyle on Fine Living Network. He was the owner of a tapas restaurant named Coqueta and an Italian restaurant named Bottega and has locations in Napa Valley, California and San Francisco, California. He was a competitor on the fourth season of The Next Iron Chef.

Early life and career Michael Dominic Chiarello was born on January 26, 1962, in Red Bluff, California, to an Italian-American family. he studied hospitality management at Florida International University, and received his bachelor's degree in 1984.

Career The next year, he opened the Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove, Florida, and Toby's Bar and Grill. He was honored as 1985's Chef of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine. Later in the 1980s, Chiarello moved back to his home state of California, making his home in the Napa Valley. One of his first endeavors was to be a chef at The Heritage Restaurant in Turlock, which failed and went bankrupt.

He opened the Tra Vigne restaurant in 1987, creating a menu influenced by the cuisine of his family's native Calabria and rife with local seasonal ingredients. He remained at Tra Vigne until 2001.

He has since served as executive chef in numerous American restaurants, including Caffe Museo in San Francisco; Ajax Tavern and Bump's in Aspen, Colorado; and Bistecca Italian Steakhouse in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In the 1990s, Chiarello launched a line of flavored oils named Consorzio. Chiarello also owned NapaStyle in Yountville, California, which sold a selection of exclusive drinkware, serverware, and designer tabletop pieces, which closed on January 4, 2016.

Media career His first cooking show, Season by Season, debuted on PBS in 2001. He hosted two more series for PBS, Michael Chiarello's Napa and Michael Chiarello's Napa: Casual Cooking, over the next two years before moving to the Food Network to host Easy Entertaining in 2003, which won an Emmy. In 2017, the sexual harassment lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.

Personal life His first marriage to Ines Bartel ended in divorce.

Cookbooks

Filmography

TV series

2000, Season by Season, PBS 2001, Michael Chiarello's Napa, PBS 2002, Michael Chiarello's Napa: Casual Cooking, PBS 2003, Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello (10 seasons) 2004, NapaStyle 2009, Top Chef Masters; lost to Rick Bayless 2011, The Next Iron Chef; lost to Geoffrey Zakarian 2013, Supermarket Superstar