Colicchio started cooking at a very young age with his mother and grandmother. Encouraged by his father, he used Jacques Pépin's instructional manuals to teach himself French cooking techniques and pursued a career in culinary arts. His culinary career started at age 17 when he worked at Evelyn’s Seafood Restaurant in his hometown, Elizabeth, New Jersey. His career went into full swing when he began cooking at well-known restaurants in New York such as Gotham Bar & Grill, The Quilted Giraffe, and Rakel. He also had a stint as executive chef at Mondrian where Food & Wine Magazine named him one of the ten “Best New Chefs” for that year.
Tom Colicchio officially became an entrepreneur and restaurateur in 1994 when he partnered up with Danny Meyer and opened up Gramercy Tavern which was awarded three stars by the New York Times in 1996. A year after the successful opening of Gramercy Tavern, Colicchio opened up the first of his signature Craft restaurants which earned another three-star rating from the New York Times. Since then, Colicchio has opened Craft, Craftbar, and Craftsteak restaurants in different parts of the United States. Following the success of Craft, he opened the first ‘wichcraft’ in 2003. This unique sandwich shop concept restaurant now has 14 branches across New York and it can also be found at the Westfield Center in San Francisco and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. His most recent entrepreneurial endeavors include NYC restaurants Riverpark and Colicchio & Sons. Tom Colicchio’s success doesn’t end there. Aside from being a successful chef, entrepreneur and popular TV personality, he has also written three top-selling cookbooks. Indeed, there is no stopping this top chef’s rise to the top.