Gordon Naccarato
Gordon Naccarato | |
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Gordon Naccarato in 2008 | |
Born | Tacoma, Washington |
Education | Stadium High School, University of Washington, Loyola Law School |
Home town | Tacoma, Washington |
Website |
www |
Culinary career | |
Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
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Award(s) won
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Gordon Naccarato is an award winning chef and restaurateur from Tacoma, Washington.
Education and early life
Naccarato was born in Tacoma,[1] and grew up in the Tacoma area. He is the son of Stan Naccarato, a vice-president of the Tacoma Stars soccer team, and a restaurant owner.[2][3]
He graduated from Stadium High School in 1972,[3] and then attended the University of Washington. He met his wife Rebecca, also from Washington, while living in Washington.[4][5] After UW, he attended Loyola Law School at Loyola Marymount University for two years, then dropped out in 1977.[3][4][5]
Restaurant career
Naccarato started working for Michael's in Santa Monica in 1979.[6] While there, he received Food & Wine Best New Chef award in 1988.[7]
Gordon Naccarato and his wife Rebecca Naccarato opened Gordon's Restaurant and Rebecca's Bakery in Aspen, Colorado in 1984.[5][8][9]
Naccarato and his wife were divorced; she worked at a grill in Kirkland and opened a Seattle restaurant with brother Tim Towner in 1990;[10] and he moved back to Tacoma in July 2001,[1][11] after working in various places including Campanile, Monkey Bar and Le Colonial in Los Angeles in the 1990s.[12][13][14] He started the Beach House restaurant in Purdy in 2002.[3]
In Tacoma, Naccarato is president of Naccarato Restaurant Group, which operates Pacific Grill.[15] He opened Smoke + Cedar restaurant in 2014.[3][16] The Classics Cafe at America's Car Museum is owned by Naccarato.[17] His brother Steve opened Shake Shake Shake in Tacoma.[1][18]
Awards and recognition
In addition to the Best New Chef 1988 award noted above, Naccarato was named by Aspen Magazine in 2014 as one of 40 individuals creating modern Aspen, a former "culinary wasteland".[19]
Other chefs have noted the influence Naccarato had on their expression.[20]
Personal life
Naccarato was profiled as a prominent openly gay businessperson by The Advocate in 2013.[15]
References
- 1 2 3 "Starting a Successful Restaurant in Tacoma with Chef Gordon Naccarato", Move to Tacoma (podcast), March 25, 2015, Episode 004
- ↑ Sandra McKee (January 28, 1992), "Naccarato takes on Foreman, getting lukewarm support at best", The Baltimore Sun
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Chef profile: Gordon Naccarato and his new Tacoma restaurant, Smoke & Cedar", The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, March 7, 2014
- 1 2 Colman Andrews (September 27, 1987), "Where Aspen's Elite Meet", The Los Angeles Times
- 1 2 3 Marian Burros (March 2, 1988), "One the road a restaurant's staff finds culinary inspiration", The New York Times
- ↑ Angela Jossy (May 10, 2007), "Pacific Grill: Chef to the stars brings expertise to Tacoma", Northwest Military, Lakewood, Washington
- ↑ Frank Guanco (Apr 2, 2015), "The Food & Wine Best New Chefs Of Seattle", Seattle Refined, KOMO News
- ↑ Marian Burros (June 12, 1987), "Visiting chefs do the town", The New York Times
- ↑ Gael Greene (27 July 1987). True West. New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. pp. 46–48. ISSN 0028-7369.
- ↑ Larry Brown (September 11, 1991), "Sister-Brother Entrepreneurs", The Seattle Times
- ↑ "Q&A: Gordon Naccarato of Pacific Grill", The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, November 30, 2012
- ↑ "Tacoma's most sexy chef: Gordon Naccarato", The Weekly Volcano, Lakewood, Washington, March 2010 – via Northwest Military
- ↑ "Six degrees of Campanile chefs", The Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2012
- ↑ "Lettuce Cups", The Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1999
- 1 2 Neal Broverman (January 9, 2013), "What makes Tacoma rock: The out executive chef of one of Tacoma's best restaurants tells us why his city is indeed the gayest in the nation", The Advocate
- ↑ Ron Swarner (March 1, 2014), "A taste of Smoke + Cedar in Tacoma", Northwest Military, Lakewood, Washington
- ↑ "Classics cafe now open at LeMay Museum", The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, June 6, 2012
- ↑ Sue Kidd (August 29, 2014), "Brown cow, anyone? South Sound soda counters with fountain desserts of yesteryear", The News Tribune
- ↑ Linda Hayes; Kelly J. Hayes (2014), "Pantheon: 40 names and lives that left their mark in making Aspen the iconic ski and cultural resort town we know today", Aspen Magazine, p. 79
- ↑ Stewart Oksenhorn (February 28, 2008), "Syzygy: from imitation to invention", The Aspen Times