Gabriel Frasca is an American chef.

Biography

Frasca began cooking at the age of 15 on the North Shore of Massachusetts, but went to

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

study journalism. Later on, he decided to become a chef, and by the age of 20 he was cooking French

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...

for

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

winner named

Gordon Hamersley Gordon Hamersley is an American chef based in Boston and cookbook author. Arguably his roast chicken is his most acclaimed recipe. It was part of a meal he cooked for Julia Child in her show ''In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs.'' His personal t ...

Hamersley's Bistro Hamersley's Bistro was a South End, Boston French restaurant owned by Gordon Hamersley that closed in October 2014 after 27 years. They were known for their roast chicken in a shallot-mustard-herb marinade. But the duck confit was called the bes ...

. In 1996 he got a job at the Chez Henri in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

where he worked with

Paul O'Connell Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish former rugby union player and coach. When he stopped playing, he was Ireland's third most-capped player (108) and the eighteenth most-capped international player in rugby union histo ...

and

Amanda Lydon Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, “she who must (or is fit to) be loved”. Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much b ...

. By 1997 he and Lydon went to

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where he worked at the L’abbaye de Saint Croix. Later, he worked with Michellin three-star chef Martin Berasategui in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He then went to ''Dolomites'' restaurant in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and worked there with Norbert Neiderkofler at St. Hubertus, who, while he was there, got his first

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

. In the same place he met an American chef named

David Bouley David Bouley (born May 27, 1953, near Storrs, Connecticut) is an Cuisine of the United States, American chef with dual French citizenship. Sole owner and chef with restaurants in Tribeca, New York City. He is best known for his flagship restauran ...

who invited him to help him to open a restaurant in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

called Danube. In 1999, Frasca moved to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and spent time at Bouley Bakery (which earned a four-star rating from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'') before the opening of Danube (which received three). In 2000 he returned to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and got his first chef position. In 2001, he was hired by his friend Seth Woods, at the just-opened Aquitaine Bis. The same year he was recognized by ''

The Improper Bostonian ''The Improper Bostonian'' was a glossy lifestyle magazine first published in August 1991 "highlighting the people and places that make Boston a world-class city." After 28 years, publisher Wendy Semonian Eppich announced that the magazine ceased ...

'' newspaper as Boston's 2001 Rising Star and started working at the ''Radius'' restaurant which was owned by

Michael Schlow Michael Schlow (born c. 1964, Brooklyn) is a Boston based chef and restaurateur. His restaurants include Via Matta, Radius, and Tico (there are also six Washington, DC area restaurants). Both Via Matta and Radius were opened with Boston restaurate ...

. While Frasca was there, the restaurant won the ''Best Overall Restaurant'' Award from the ''

Boston Magazine ''Boston'' is a monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication since 1805. History and profile ''Boston'' magazine was started in 1805. Metrocorp, Inc. bought the magazine in 1970. The company also owns ...

'' and was put into top 25 restaurants by the ''

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

''. In November 2003, Frasca took over Spire restaurant, couple of years later the ''Boston Magazine'' named him Best Chef, Up and Coming. He was also awarded with three stars from the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. In 2006, he and Lydon became a co-Executive Chefs of the Straight Wharf Restaurant in

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, Massachusetts which opened on July 4, 1976, and the same year Frasca was awarded with the ''Rising Stars Award''. He also appeared on

Fetch With Ruff Ruffman ''Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman'' (sometimes shortened as ''Fetch!'') is an American live-action/animated television series that aired on PBS Kids Go! and is largely targeted towards middle school children. It is a reality-game show that is hosted by ...

Episode 15, Season 1 "Tryin' Chef."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frasca, Gabriel American chefs American male chefs Living people 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) Kenyon College alumni