Carlo Cracco brings his whole personality into the kitchen with him. And that is exactly his goal. Born in the town of Creazzo, near Vicenza, in 1965, he began his career at the age of 21 alongside Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan, in the first Italian restaurant to earn three Michelin stars. Today he’s a successful chef and one of the best-known faces on Italian TV.
Becoming cool
One of his most successful books is entitled If You Want to Be Cool Use Shallots (Se vuoi fare il figo usa lo scalogno). Clearly he must be using them. Because there’s no denying it: women like Carlo Cracco. His magnetic gaze and silences have left an impression on many of them, but only one has managed to make him her own: his inseparable companion, Rosa, whom he married in 2018. “I was a bit of a loser, a dork. I had my first kiss at 14,” he revealed to Vanity Fair Italia a few years ago. He was the fourth son of a railway worker and a woman who did anything she could to contribute to the household expenses. Cracco got a diploma in hospitality in Recoaro Terme near Vicenza, while working in a restaurant in that city. In 1986 he began his professional career with the godfather of Italian cooking, Gualtiero Marchesi: an experience that was more than educational. Following this, Cracco moved to Savona and then to France, where he stayed for three years. Under the guidance of chefs Alain Ducasse and Lucas Carton, he discovered the secrets of French cuisine. Back in Italy, he went to Florence to work as head chef at the Enoteca Pinchiorri di Firenze, which was awarded three Michelin stars thanks to his direction. Gualtiero Marchesi asked him to return to open his restaurant L’Albereta in Erbusco, near Brescia, where he stayed for three years. He then moved to Piedmont, where he opened Le Clivie, in Piobesi d’Alba, near Cuneo. After just one year, he earned a Michelin star.
Before MasterChef tv
In 2000 Carlo Cracco started a new adventure. The Stoppani family, the owners of Peck, Milan’s most famous food shop since 1883, decided to open their doors to the most important Veneto chef of the time. The Cracco-Peck restaurant was created. It became simply Cracco in 2007, and today has one Michelin star. In the same year he became Executive Chef of Cracco. Then in 2012 he was chosen by the Trussardi family to look after the management and renovation of the Trussardi alla Scala restaurant. The previous year, however, Carlo Cracco had already formed a successful team with Joe Bastianich and Bruno Barbieri for the MasterChef show on Sky Italia, which he left in 2017 to devote himself to new entrepreneurial adventures. With his simple, essential creations, particularly his marinated egg yolk, he became known to the public.
Craccomania
Cracco considers his cooking to be cerebral, although with heart and with great respect for food. He also opened Carlo e Camilla in Segheria in the Milan in 2014. In the same year, he became the host of TV show Hell’s Kitchen Italia, while in 2016, he opened OVO by Carlo Cracco in the Lotte Hotel in Moscow, a restaurant that relies entirely on Italian products and cuisine. He is the author of numerous other successful publications (from A qualcuno piace Cracco to E’ nato prima l’uovo o la farina?). And since 2012 the chef from Creazzo has also enjoyed his role as president of the Maestro Martino association, a non-profit organization to promote haute cuisine and the excellence of Italy. For Expo 2015 he was appointed Ambassador of the Lombardy Region. In 2018, the charming chef returned to the center of attention: he opened his luxurious project over five floors and over 10,000 square feet, Ristorante Cracco in Galleria, as featured in the documentary Cracco Confidential for Discovery Italy tv channel. Back on his feet, his original restaurant is now open: Ristorante Cracco in via Victor Hugo in Milan, just a short walking distance from Duomo. In short: handsome, talented, star-studded and very much in demand. What more could you desire?