Meet The Chef: Massimo Carbone
Updated: Sep 1
Chef Massimo Carbone is an Italian chef whose career has moved between some of the most demanding professional kitchens in Italy, France and New York. His story is one of classical training, international experience, restaurant leadership, entrepreneurship and a long commitment to promoting authentic Italian food in the United States.
Early Training in Italy
Born in Italy, Massimo began his culinary education at only fourteen years old, studying at the Scuola Alberghiera in Lignano Sabbiadoro. The training gave him the technical foundation and professional discipline that would shape the rest of his career.
His early professional experience included work connected with two of the most influential names in European gastronomy, Gualtiero Marchesi and Paul Bocuse. He later worked as chef de partie at the five-star Grand Hotel in his hometown of Rimini, gaining experience in the structured environment of luxury hotel dining.
From Italy to New York
In December 1985, Massimo moved to New York City after an opportunity arose through a friend. What began as a professional move quickly became a defining chapter of his career.
He joined restaurateur Luca Angiulli at the Beacon Hotel, eventually becoming Executive Chef and overseeing not only the kitchen but also catering operations and room service. Within only six months of arriving in the United States, his cooking received two stars from New York Times restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton — an important early recognition for a young Italian chef establishing himself in New York.
San Domenico and a Return to Italy
In 1991, Massimo joined San Domenico in New York, one of the city’s most important Italian restaurants of its era. The restaurant was known for presenting refined Italian cuisine at a level that helped redefine how serious Italian food was perceived in the United States.
Massimo later returned to Italy to continue developing his craft in leading kitchens. His experience included time at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, the celebrated three-Michelin-star restaurant that became one of the reference points of modern Italian fine dining.
Executive Chef and Restaurateur in New York
Returning to New York, Massimo continued to take on senior culinary positions. In 1994 he was named Executive Chef of Osteria Al Doge and later held the same position at Il Gattopardo.
In 1997, he became Executive Chef and partner of Brio on the Upper East Side. His role expanded beyond the kitchen into ownership and restaurant development. In 2007 he opened Brio Wine Bar on the Upper East Side, followed in 2011 by another Brio location in New York’s Flatiron District.
These projects reflected the breadth of his experience: classical Italian cooking, restaurant operations, menu development, leadership and the ability to translate Italian hospitality into the New York dining market.
Consulting and Promoting Italian Products
Beyond his restaurants, Massimo developed a significant consulting career, working on restaurant projects in New York and across the United States for major hospitality groups and well-known Italian restaurant brands, including BICE and Fresco by Scotto.
He also worked as a food-products adviser for Conca D’Oro Imports and collaborated with organizations introducing and promoting Italian ingredients in the American market. His work included products such as Speck, Asiago cheese, Riso Scotti products, Sicilian blood oranges and Pecorino Romano.
For Massimo, Italian cuisine has never existed only inside the restaurant kitchen. His career has also involved helping American consumers, restaurateurs and food professionals understand the ingredients and regional traditions behind Italian cooking.
Television, Competitions and Recognition
Massimo has appeared in food and culinary segments for CBS, NBC, RAI Italia and Food Network, among other media outlets. His television appearances and culinary competitions brought his work to an audience far beyond the dining room.
In 2010, New York Magazine recognized his Bucatini con le Sarde as the best version of the dish in New York City. In 2013, the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma named him a U.S. brand ambassador in connection with the consortium’s 50th anniversary.
He has served several times as a judge for San Pellegrino’s Almost Famous Chef competition, participated five times in the New York Wine & Food Festival, and competed in Food Network’s “Best Meatball in USA” battle hosted by Giada De Laurentiis.
Giving Back to the Industry
Massimo’s work has also extended into charitable events and professional leadership. In April 2015, he helped raise a record $250,000 at an event benefiting Table to Table, hosted by Mario Batali.
That same month, Massimo became President of AICNY, the Association of Italian Chefs in New York. The role reflected a career that had grown beyond individual restaurants into advocacy, mentorship and representation of Italian chefs working in the United States.
A Career Between Two Culinary Worlds
Massimo Carbone’s career represents a generation of Italian chefs who brought serious regional Italian cooking to the United States while remaining closely connected to the professional standards learned in Europe.
From his early training in Italy to New York hotel kitchens, fine-dining restaurants, restaurant ownership, consulting, product promotion and industry leadership, his work has consistently remained connected to Italian culinary identity.
His story is not simply about one restaurant or one dish. It is the story of a chef who built a career by moving between kitchens, cultures and opportunities while continuing to represent the food and hospitality traditions of Italy.
Meet The Chef
Zafferano & Co. created the Meet The Chef series to document the people behind Italian cuisine — the chefs whose careers, training and personal histories have helped carry Italian food culture into restaurants and communities around the world.
Chef Massimo Carbone’s journey from professional training in Italy to a decades-long career in New York is part of that larger story: Italian technique, professional discipline and hospitality carried from one generation and one country to another.
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