Michael White (chef) facts for kids
White interviewed at the James Beard Foundation Awards 2010
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| Born | Michael John White Beloit, Wisconsin |
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| Cooking style | Italian |
| Education | Kendall Culinary Institute |
| Spouse | Giovanna White |
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Michael White is a famous American chef. He was once the main chef and owner of a restaurant group called Altamarea Group. This group had many popular Italian restaurants in places like New York, New Jersey, and Hong Kong.
Some of his restaurants, like Marea and Ai Fiori, earned special awards called Michelin stars. These stars show that a restaurant has very high-quality food. Marea even had two Michelin stars at one point! In 2021, Michael White left the Altamarea Group. He moved to his home in the Hamptons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Becoming a Chef
Michael White grew up in Beloit, Wisconsin. He started his cooking journey in 1989. He went to the Kendall Culinary Institute to learn how to cook.
After culinary school, he spent seven years in Italy. He trained at a famous restaurant called Ristorante San Domenico. There, he learned from a great chef named Valentino Marcattilii. He also got more training in Paris and the South of France. This helped him learn many different cooking styles.
Opening His First Restaurants
In 2002, Michael White became the head chef at Fiamma Osteria. This restaurant won many awards, including a Michelin star. In 2006, he even wrote a cookbook. It was called Fiamma: The Essence of Contemporary Italian Cooking.
In 2007, Chef White teamed up with Ahmass Fakahany. They opened two restaurants in New Jersey: Due Terre and Due Mari. Both of these restaurants also won awards. He then took over two more restaurants in Manhattan, New York. One was L'Impero, which he renamed Convivio. The other was Alto. Both Convivio and Alto later earned Michelin stars.
More Restaurants by Michael White
Michael White and Ahmass Fakahany opened many more restaurants together. Here are some of them:
- In May 2009, they opened Marea. This restaurant became very famous. It earned two Michelin stars and three stars from The New York Times.
- In October 2010, they opened the first Osteria Morini. This Italian restaurant focused on food from a region in Italy called Emilia-Romagna. They later opened more Osteria Morini restaurants in New Jersey and Washington D.C.
- In November 2010, White opened Ai Fiori. This restaurant served Mediterranean food. It also earned a Michelin star and three stars from The New York Times.
- In May 2011, they opened Al Molo in Hong Kong. This was their first restaurant outside the United States.
- Nicoletta Pizzeria opened in New York in June 2012. It served delicious pizzas. More Nicoletta pizzerias opened later in other places.
- In 2013, they opened a steakhouse called Costata in New York.
- In December 2013, the Altamarea Group opened Ristorante Morini. This was a pan-Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Another Ristorante Morini opened in Istanbul, Turkey, that same year.
- In September 2015, they opened their first French restaurant, Vaucluse. It was also on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
See also
- List of Michelin starred restaurants
