The Drago family has owned and operated some of the most famous high-end Italian restaurants in Los Angeles, California, since the 1980s. [1] They are known for their pasta dishes. [2] The family includes four brothers:Tanino, Calogero, Celestino, [3] and Giacomino. [4] Giacomino is co-owner of 11 Los Angeles restaurants—including Beverly Hills' iconic Il Pastaio and Via Alloro, [5] and referred to as the scion of the family's restaurant businesses. [6]
Celestino Drago immigrated to Los Angeles from Sicily in the mid-1970s, and held his first job with Osteria Romana Orsini on Pico Boulevard as a chef before leaving to launch Celestino, "his seminal Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills (now defunct but re-created in Pasadena under the same name)". [7] He brought over three of his brothers from the family restaurant in Messina. Celestino parted ways with investor Art Vella in 1991. [8] [9] [10]
Some of their dishes have been featured in cookbooks. [11] [12]
Mario Francesco Batali is an American chef, writer, and former restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and New Haven, Connecticut including Babbo (restaurant) in New York City which received a Michelin star for several years. Batali has appeared on the Food Network, on shows such as Molto Mario and Iron Chef America, on which he was one of the featured "Iron Chefs". In 2017, the restaurant review site Eater revealed multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against Batali and, in March 2019, he sold all his restaurant holdings.
Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American chef and restaurateur.
Spago is Wolfgang Puck's flagship restaurant worldwide, known for serving California cuisine. Spago is Puck's first restaurant venture.
William Todd English is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality, based in Boston, Massachusetts. He hosted the TV cooking show, Food Trip with Todd English, on PBS. In 2005 he was a judge on the PBS show Cooking Under Fire.
Nancy Silverton is an American chef, baker, restaurateur, and author. The winner of the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef Award in 2014, Silverton is recognized for her role in popularizing sourdough and artisan breads in the United States.
Joseph Bastianich is an American restaurateur, winemaker, author, and television personality. He, along with his mother and business partner Lidia Bastianich, co-owns thirty restaurants in four countries, including Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles, which the owners expanded in 2010. Earlier that same year, they teamed up with businessman Oscar Farinetti to bring Eataly, an upscale food and wine market, to Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, London and Stockholm.
The Best Thing I Ever Ate is a television series that originally aired on Food Network, debuting on June 22, 2009.
Fabio Viviani is a chef, restaurateur, and cook book writer who has appeared on reality television. He also sells a range of wines. In 2005 he moved from Florence to Southern California. In 2008 he appeared on the reality television competition series Top Chef, where he was voted the "fan favorite"; since then he has had a second career as a television host, on-air personality and product pitchman.
Jeffrey Saad is an American chef, author, restaurant owner, television personality, and real estate broker from Chicago, Illinois. He is currently the host of United Tastes of America on the Cooking Channel and Estate Director with Compass in Beverly Hills.
Michael White is the former Head Chef and Owner of the Altamarea Group, which is composed of the restaurants Marea, Ai Fiori, Vaucluse, Osteria Morini, Nicoletta, Costata, and The Butterfly in New York, Osteria Morini and Due Mari in New Jersey, and Al Molo in Hong Kong. Marea earned two Michelin stars and is a member of the prestigious Relais and Chateaux. Ai Fiori has also earned a Michelin star.
Paul Bartolotta is an American chef and restaurateur. Most recently he is known for his authentic style and his innovative approach to importing fresh seafood from Mediterranean waters. Paul Bartolotta has won the James Beard Foundation Award twice—once for Best Chef: Midwest, and again for Best Chef: Southwest (2009), at Bartolotta, Ristorante di Mare at Wynn Las Vegas. He is a recipient of the Insegna del Ristorante Italiano del Mondo, which was awarded to him in 1997 by Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, the President of Italy at the time.
Numero 28 is an Italian restaurant chain, headquartered in New York City, with outlets in Austin and Miami Beach.
Massimo Bottura is an Italian restaurateur and the chef patron of Osteria Francescana, a three-Michelin-star restaurant based in Modena, Italy. It has been ranked No.1 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list twice and is currently part of the Best of the Best list.
BiCE Ristorante was an Italian restaurant located in New York City. Opening in 1987, the restaurant was popular with an upscale New York City clientele. It was described, soon after opening, by The New York Times as being "too chic, too crowded, too self-consciously European—yet everyone wants to visit." The restaurant almost closed in 2011 due to financial troubles. Crain's New York Business called BiCE an "institution". The original BiCE closed in 2014, but has since returned to New York City under the name BiCE Cucina.
Aliza Green is an American chef and writer. In addition to being one of the first women chefs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is known as a pioneer of the farm-to-table movement. She was one of the first chefs in Philadelphia to deal directly with local farms and utilize locally raised food in her restaurants. She writes as a food columnist and has published more than a dozen books about food.
Roberto Donna is an Italian chef and restaurateur in Washington D.C.
Pazzo Ristorante, or simply Pazzo, was an Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
Osteria la Spiga is a Black-owned Italian restaurant on Seattle's Capitol Hill, in the U.S. state of Washington. Sabrina Tinsley is the chef and a co-owner with Pietro Borghesi. Established in 1998, the business specializes in foods from Northern Italy, specifically Bologna and Parma. The menu has included antipasti, pastas, soups, salads, and a tiramisu based on a family recipe. Osteria la Spiga has garnered a positive reception and has been deemed among Seattle's best Italian restaurants and Capitol Hill's best eateries. Tinsley opened nearby La Dispensa in 2022.
Osteria Mozza is a Michelin Guide-starred Italian restaurant in Hollywood, California.