Winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 15, Joe will open his debut restaurant in the Chicago’s Fulton Market, summer 2020. The menu will focus on Adriatic drinking food from Croatia and Italy.
Most recently, Joe worked as Executive Chef at Chicago’s Michelin-starred Spiaggia and Cafe Spiaggia for 5.5 years. There, he cooked and learned alongside the one-and-only Chef Tony Mantuano, aka the Godfather of Italian fine-dining in America, who’s forever family.
Prior to Spiaggia, Joe worked in other iconic Chicago kitchens, starting with Grandma Mary’s. She taught him how to cook for their big family. Pastas, ravioli, pizzas — all made by hand. He refined his culinary skills alongside Chicago’s best chefs, including Stephanie Izard at Girl and the Goat, Art Smith at Table Fifty-Two, and Bill Kim at bellyQ. Joe has staged in some of Italy’s best kitchens, too, including Glass Hostaria in Rome and Del Pescatore in Mantova, a genuinely magic place.
He’s cooked for presidents, celebrities, the James Beard Foundation and more, but his favorite person to cook for is his wife/roommate, Hillary. In his free time, Joe enjoys dayoffing with Hillary and their son, Luka, who couldn’t be more awesome.