Scott Conant facts for kids

Scott Conant, born on February 19, 1971, is a famous American chef. He owns restaurants and writes cookbooks. You might know him as a judge on the TV show Chopped, which he's been doing since 2009. He has also written four cookbooks.

Early Life of Scott Conant

Scott Conant was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. His family has Italian roots on his mother's side. He started cooking when he was very young. At just 11 years old, he took cooking classes at a local college. When he was 15, he went to a special high school for culinary arts. After that, he studied at the famous Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

Scott Conant's Cooking Career

While studying at the Culinary Institute of America, Scott worked at a well-known restaurant in New York City called San Domenico. This experience really helped him decide his future. After he graduated, he spent a year in Munich, Germany. There, he learned how to make amazing pastries at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof.

He then came back to the United States and worked again at San Domenico. In 1995, he became the head chef at Il Toscanaccio, an Italian restaurant. Later, he became the executive chef at City Eatery in New York City.

Opening L'Impero Restaurant

In September 2002, Scott Conant opened his own restaurant, L'Impero. It was a huge success very quickly! The New York Times gave it a fantastic review, saying his dishes were "joyous and highly refined." His special pasta dishes even appeared on the cover of Food & Wine magazine. In 2004, Food & Wine named him one of America's "Best New Chefs."

L'Impero also won big awards from the James Beard Foundation in 2003. It was named the "Best New Restaurant" in the U.S. and also won for its "Outstanding Restaurant Design."

Scott Conant was featured on the cover of Gourmet magazine in 2003. In 2004, the editor of Gourmet named L'Impero one of her favorite New York restaurants. After L'Impero, Scott opened another fancy Italian restaurant called Alto. It served his unique take on Northern Italian food.

Developing the Scarpetta Brand

In 2007, Scott left L'Impero and Alto. In 2008, he opened Scarpetta in Chelsea, Manhattan. This restaurant also received great reviews from The New York Times and New York Magazine.

Scott Conant helped the Scarpetta restaurants become famous across the country. There were Scarpetta locations in New York City, Miami, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. He also wrote The Scarpetta Cookbook, which featured recipes from the restaurant.

Television Appearances

In July 2010, Scott Conant became the host and head judge of a new TV show. It was called 24 Hour Restaurant Battle and aired on the Food Network. On the show, two teams had to create a restaurant from scratch in just 24 hours. The show ran for two seasons.

Since 2009, Scott Conant has been a regular judge on the popular cooking show Chopped. He also appeared on other shows like Top Chef and Beat Bobby Flay.

New Cookbooks by Scott Conant

In 2021, Scott Conant released his fourth cookbook. It's called Peace, Love, and Pasta: Simple and Elegant Recipes from a Chef's Home Kitchen.

Scott Conant's Family Life

Scott Conant is married to Meltem Bozkurt. They got married in 2007. They have two daughters together.

Awards and Recognitions

Scott Conant has received many awards for his amazing cooking:

• Three Stars from The New York Times for his restaurants "L'Impero" and "Scarpetta New York."
• Four Stars from Miami Herald for "Scarpetta Miami."
• "Best New Restaurant of 2003" from the James Beard Foundation for "L'Impero."
• "Best New Chef" from Food & Wine Magazine in 2004.
• He was the winner of Season 3 of "Chopped All-Stars."

Cookbooks by Scott Conant

• Scott Conant's New Italian Cooking (2005)
• Bold Italian (2008)
• The Scarpetta Cookbook (2013)
• Peace, Love, & Pasta (2021)