Nicholas Stefanelli | |
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Born | Maryland |
Education |
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Culinary career | |
Cooking style | Italian |
Rating(s) | |
Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
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Website | masseria-dc |
Nicholas Stefanelli is an American chef and restaurateur in Washington, D.C., known for his Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Masseria. [2]
Born in Maryland, Stefanelli is of Greek and Italian descent, with family from the Apulia region of southern Italy. [3] He was an aspiring baseball player at DeMatha Catholic High School in Washington, D.C., until he broke his foot. [4] [5] After high school, he went to Italy to pursue a career in fashion in Milan, but he became interested in the food he encountered in Rome, Florence, Assisi, and Venice. [6] After realizing his passion for cooking, he enrolled in L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland and joined the kitchen of Roberto Donna at Italian restaurant Galileo in Washington, D.C. [4] He then went to work for Fabio Trabocchi at Maestro in Tysons Corner, Virginia, following Trabocchi to Fiamma in New York City. [6] After Fiamma closed in 2009, Stefanelli worked a stage at The French Laundry in California. [4]
In 2009, Stefanelli was recruited by restaurateur Ashok Bajaj to return to D.C. to develop a menu and lead the kitchen at a new Italian restaurant, Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca. [7] Bibiana received many positive reviews upon opening, [8] and it was recognized as one of the best new restaurants in America by Esquire magazine. [9] Stefanelli won the title of "Rising Culinary Star" at the 2010 Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (Rammy) Awards. [10]
In 2014, Stefanelli left Bibiana to open his own restaurant, called Masseria. [11] Named for the agricultural estates in Italy's Apulia region, Masseria opened in August 2015 and was Union Market's first standalone restaurant. [12] In October 2016, Masseria earned a Michelin Star within the city's first-ever guide. [13] In 2018, Masseria won the Rammy Award for Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year. [14]
In October 2018, Stefanelli opened Officina, a three-floor Italian trattoria, café, and market located in The Wharf, a new development on Washington's Southwest Waterfront. [15] [16] In November 2018, Stefanelli announced plans to open a Greek restaurant in downtown Washington, DC. [17]
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