Tom Colicchio
One of the culinary world’s most celebrated figures, Tom Colicchio returns once again as lead judge for Bravo’s 20th season of the Emmy and James Beard Award-winning culinary series “Top Chef,” and also serves as mentor to the competing chefs on the series by guiding them through their various challenges. He also hosts BravoTV.com’s Emmy-winning digital companion video series “Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen.”
Colicchio is also the chef and owner of Crafted Hospitality, which currently includes New York’s Craft, Temple Court, Vallata and Small Batch; Los Angeles’ Craft Los Angeles; and Las Vegas’ Heritage Steak and Craftsteak. Born in Elizabeth, N.J., Colicchio made his New York cooking debut at prominent restaurants, including the Quilted Giraffe, Gotham Bar & Grill and Gramercy Tavern before opening Craft in 2001. Outside of his fine-dining restaurants, Colicchio opened Wichcraft – a sandwich and salad fast casual concept rooted in the same food and hospitality philosophies as Craft – in New York in 2003.
He has published “Think Like a Chef” (2000), which won The James Beard Foundation KitchenAid Cookbook Award in 2001; “Craft of Cooking” (2003); and a sandwich book inspired by ‘wichcraft (2009). In 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.
A vocal social justice advocate, Colicchio executive produced the 2013 documentary “A Place at the Table” about the underlying causes of hunger in the United States. This eye-opening experience led Colicchio to Washington, D.C., where he lobbied in front of Congress in an effort to protect and expand food programs in the U.S. Colicchio is a founding member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, founded to save the independent restaurants and bars and the 11 million people they employ who were affected by the Covid pandemic. He’s a frequent contributor on MSNBC and is the host of the iHeart Radio podcast “Citizen Chef.”
Colicchio and his restaurants give back to the community by serving on the boards of Children of Bellevue, City Harvest and Wholesome Wave. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Lori Silverbush, and three sons. When he’s not in the kitchen, Colicchio can be found tending to his garden on the North Fork of Long Island, enjoying a day of fishing or playing guitar.
