David Ruggerio

David Ruggerio (born June 26, 1962 in Brooklyn, USA) is an American chef, author, and television personality. Son of Saverio Gambino and Constance Lazzarino, he became famous in the food world during the 1990s. Ruggerio honed his culinary skills in France at several of the country's leading restaurants, among them, the Hotel Negresco with Jacques Maximin; Moulin de Mougins with Roger Vergé; L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges with Paul Bocuse and Les Pres d'Eugenie with Michel Guérard.

David Ruggerio
Born	(1962-06-26) 26 June 1962 Brooklyn, New York, USA
Education	Beach Channel High School in Far Rockaway, Queens
Home town	New York City, USA
Spouse(s)	Theresa Garelli ( m. 2005)
Culinary career
Cooking style	French, Italian
Website	davidruggerio.com

Biography

His rise to fame began as the chef at the legendary New York eatery, La Caravelle.[1] At the time Ruggerio was only twenty-five years old and garnished rave reviews.

He went on to take command of Pierre Cardin's New York outpost of Maxim's de Paris[2] where he garnished three stars from the New York Times. He then took his talents to the iconic Park Avenue restaurant, Le Chantilly.[3] Here he gained national acclaim by again receiving three stars from the New York Times and being lauded over in an article by legendary writer Gael Greene entitled "Miracle on 57th Street".[4]

Media personality

Ruggerio is also a cookbook author,[5] in his books, Ruggerio draws a distinction between the cooking of Naples and that of Sicily.[6]

He was honored in 1995 by noted vintner Robert Mondavi as a Rising Star Chef, in the first year of this national awards program. He went on to star in his own PBS cooking series entitled, "Little Italy with David Ruggerio."[7][8] He later went on to star in his own series on Food Network entitled, "Ruggerio to Go."

Ruggerio’s first novel, "A Wistful Tale of Gods, Men and Monsters," won the Maxy Award 2019 for Best Horror Novel, and Pencraft Awards - Best Fiction Horror 2019 [9]

Awards

During the 1990s, was known as one of the best chef in America. In 1995, vintner Robert Mondavi chose him as one of the 13 best young chefs in America.[10]

Bibliography

• Ruggerio, David; Acevedo, Melanie (1997). Little Italy Cookbook. New York: Artisan. ISBN 1885183542.
• Ruggerio, David; McEvoy, Maura (2000). David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen: Family Recipes from the Old Country. Artisan. ISBN 1579651151.
• Ruggerio, David (2019). David Ruggerio's A Wistful Tale of Gods, Men, and Monsters. Black Rose Writing. ISBN 9781684333790.
• Ruggerio, David (2020). Say Goodbye and Goodnight. Black Rose Writing. ISBN 978-1-68433-493-3. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

Featured publications

David Ruggerio has been featured in several national publications:

• In October 1995, Ruggerio was featured in a recipe of Food Arts.[11]
• In 1996 Ruggerio was hailed as “Everywhere Man” in NY Magazine.[12]
• In February 2012, David was featured in a recipe of Food & Wine making Spiced Pear and Rum Risotto.[13]
• David was mentioned in the book Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine by Andrew F. Smith detailing the creation of contemporary American cuisine.[14]

Legal history

On November 3, 1998 David Ruggerio was charged with stealing $190,000 from a credit card company by falsifying credit card receipts for payment, in one case by as much as $30,000. He falsified credit card payments by inflating the gratuities left by 26 customers at his restaurant.[15][16][17]

On March 12, 1999 he admitted to the charges and paid more than $100,000 in restitution to a credit card company, spent five years on probation and performed 500 hours of community service.[18][19]

Ruggerio spent five years on probation and performed 500 hours of community service, due to this Food Network debated keeping his show on the air but eventually decided against cancelling it.

The network had produced dozens of episodes and spent a small fortune to market it.[20]

Ruggerio subsequently attempted to work in the culinary industry again.[21]

References

1. "Restaurants by Bryan Miller". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
2. "Restaurants by Bryan Miller". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
3. "Restaurants by Bryan Miller". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
4. "The Insatiable Critic/Gael Greene: Le Chantilly miracle on 57th Street". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
5. "Little Italy Cookbook". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
6. "David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen: Family Recipes from the Old Country". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
7. "Bits and Bytes by Eric Asimov". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
8. "Lights! Camera! Action! (And some cooking too)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
9. "Maxy Award - 2019 Recipients". Maxy Awards. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
10. "Garçon! Lager, s'il vpus plait! Forget wine -- Today's fine dining calls for beer". CNN Money. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
11. "Chicken Scaparello recipe". Food Arts. October 1995.
12. "Talent Everywhere Man". New York Magazine. 16 September 1996.
13. "Spiced Pear and Rum Risotto". Food & Wine. February 2012.
14. Andrew F. Smith (September 2009). "Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine". Google Books.
15. "Chef of Former Le Chantilly Is Accused of Credit Theft". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
16. "Chef accused of cooking up inflated credit card charges". Deseret News. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
17. "Monitor by Suna Chang". EW. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
18. "Chef Admits He Inflated Tips In Attempt to Steal Thousands". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
19. "Chef Pleads In Theft Case". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
20. "Bam: 8 Tasty Facts You Probably Don't Know About Food Network". Grub Street. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
21. "The Cook, the Thief". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-30.

External links

• David Ruggerio on IMDb