Michael Chiarello

Michael Dominic Chiarello (January 26, 1962 – October 6, 2023) was an American celebrity chef, restauranteur, and businessperson, who was known for Italian-influenced California cuisine.

He hosted the cooking TV shows Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello on Food Network, and NapaStyle on Fine Living Network.

He was the owner of a tapas restaurant named Coqueta and an Italian restaurant named Bottega and has locations in Napa Valley, California and San Francisco, California.

He was a competitor on the fourth season of The Next Iron Chef.

Michael Dominic Chiarello was born on January 26, 1962, in Red Bluff, California, to an Italian-American family.

He began cooking with his family at a young age.

Later in the 1980s, Chiarello moved back to his home state of California, making his home in the Napa Valley.

One of his first endeavors was to be a chef at The Heritage Restaurant in Turlock, which failed and went bankrupt.

After graduating in 1982 from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, he studied hospitality management at Florida International University, and received his bachelor's degree in 1984.

The next year, he opened The Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove, Florida, and Toby's Bar and Grill.

He was honored as 1985's Chef of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine.

He opened the Tra Vigne restaurant in 1987, creating a menu influenced by the cuisine of his family's native Calabria and rife with local seasonal ingredients.

In the 1990s, Chiarello launched a line of flavored oils named Consorzio.

Chiarello owned a winery called Chiarello Family Vineyards, located in Yountville, California.

He remained at Tra Vigne until 2001.

He has since served as executive chef in numerous American restaurants including Caffe Museo in San Francisco; Ajax Tavern and Bump's in Aspen, Colorado; and Bistecca Italian Steakhouse in Scottsdale, Arizona.

His first cooking show, Season by Season, debuted on PBS in 2001.

He hosted two more series for PBS, Michael Chiarello's Napa and Michael Chiarello's Napa: Casual Cooking, over the next two years before moving to the Food Network to host Easy Entertaining in 2003, which won an Emmy.

In 2003, Chiarello married Eileen Marie Gordon, with whom he had one son, Aidan, born in 2005.

In 2004, his show NapaStyle premiered on the Food Network's sister network Fine Living Network.

In 2009, Chiarello was a contestant on Top Chef Masters, winning his preliminary round and advancing to the championship round, placing second to winner Rick Bayless.

In 2011, Chiarello appeared in the Visit California promotional film aimed at boosting tourism from the UK.

His first marriage was to Ines Bartel, and it ended in divorce.

He had two daughters from the first marriage, Margaux, and Felicia.

He also had a younger daughter named Giana O’Shaughnessy.

Chiarello also owned NapaStyle in Yountville, California, which sold a selection of exclusive drinkware, serverware, and designer tabletop pieces, which closed on January 4, 2016.

In March 2016, two former employees of Coqueta filed two lawsuits against Chiarello and his restaurant group Gruppo Chiarello, alleging sexual harassment and labor law violations.

In 2017, the sexual harassment lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.

In 2019, Chiarello filed for divorce from Gordon, however the paperwork was not finalized at the time of his death in 2023.

Chiarello died on October 6, 2023 in Napa, at the age of 61, after being hospitalized for an allergic reaction that led to anaphylaxis.