Massimo Capra (born 1960) is an Italian-born Canadian restauranteur, restaurant consultant, cookbook author, and

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...

. He is known for his appearances on the television shows

CityTV Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

's ''

Cityline ''CityLine'' is a Canadian talk show and lifestyle television program hosted by Tracy Moore produced for the Citytv network at Toronto flagship station CITY-DT. Each show has a theme that changes daily. These include "Around the House", "Family ...

'',

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

's '' The Morning Show'', and

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

shows ''

Restaurant Makeover ''Restaurant Makeover'' is a television series on HGTV Canada that currently airs as reruns on the Food Network Canada and ''HGTV Canada'', as well as the Fine Living Network, Fine Living channel and Food Network in the United States, DTour and ...

'', '' Chopped: Canada'', ''

Top Chef Canada ''Top Chef Canada'' is a Canadian reality competition television series and is considered one of the most prestigious culinary competitions in Canada. The show premiered on April 11, 2011, on Food Network Canada. The first season consisted of 13 ...

'', and ''

Wall of Chefs ''Wall of Chefs'' is a Canadian reality television series, which premiered February 3, 2020 on Food Network.Rita De Montis"Home cooks set to face the Wall of Chefs for $10Gs prize" ''Toronto Sun'', January 8, 2020. Hosted by Noah Cappe, the serie ...

''. He based in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

; near Toronto.

Career

Massimo Capra was born May 24, 1960 in

Soresina Soresina ( Soresinese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about northwest of Cremona. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential dec ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

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 ...

. He was primarily raised in

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

. While he was a teenager he left home from 1974 to 1977 to study cooking in

Salsomaggiore Salsomaggiore Terme (Parmigiano dialect, Salsese: ; Parmigiano dialect, Parmigiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Parma, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Located at the foot of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines, its warm sal ...

. Capra began his culinary career in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, working in a trattoria. He served in the Italian Army. In 1982, Capra moved to Toronto. He started out working at Archer’s, a family-owned restaurant; followed by work at Prego della Piazza, a celebrity destination. In 2014, Capra started working on a new restaurant venue modeled after his successful

Pearson Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...

restaurant Boccone Pronto. Located inside

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Hamad International Airport Hamad International Airport ( ar, مطار حمد الدولي, ') is an international airport in the State of Qatar, and the home of Qatar’s flag carrier airline, Qatar Airways. Located east of its capital, Doha, it replaced the nearby Doha ...

, the restaurant was dubbed Soprafino Restaurant. He also pursued several other ventures during this time. He is currently the owner of Capra's Kitchen in

, Ontario, in partnership with

Mohamad Fakih Mohamad Fakih is a Lebanese-Canadian businessperson, and philanthropist. Founder of the Middle Eastern Halal restaurant chain, Paramount Fine Foods, Fakih also conducts charitable work and community service through the Fakih Foundation. Back ...

of Paramount Fine Foods.

Publications

Capra had a monthly column in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

s "New Life" section. Several of his recipes have appeared in print, and was the food editor for Canadian Home Trend Magazine for several years. His first full

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

, ''One-Pot Italian'' (September 2007), was published by

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

; followed by the award-winning cookbook ''Three Chefs: The Kitchen Men'' (2012). Massimo Capra was the

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person engaged by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embod ...

for

Buitoni Buitoni () is an Italian food company based in Sansepolcro. It was founded in 1827. They are known for their factory-produced products of pasta and sauces. In 1985, the Buitoni family sold the company to Carlo De Benedetti; in 1988, it was acqui ...

pizza,

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

appliances, Silani cheese, and

Kraft The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

dressings. He currently raises awareness for

Grana Padano Grana Padano is a cheese originating in the Po river Valley in northern Italy that is similar to Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. There are less strict regulations governing its production compared to Parmigiano Reggiano. This hard, crumbly- textured ...

Prosciutto ''Prosciutto crudo'', in English often shortened to prosciutto ( , ), is Italian uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. ''Prosciutto crudo'' is usually served thinly sliced. Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crudo ...

di Parma, and Prosciutto di San Daniele.

Restaurants

Active

* Capra’s Kitchen (2016–present), 1834 Lakeshore Road W, Mississauga, Ontario * Massimo’s Italian (2018–present), Sheraton on the Falls Hotel,

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, Ontario * Boccone Trattoria, formerly Boccone Pronto (2013–present),

Toronto Pearson International Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...

, Mississauga, Ontario

Closed

* Soprafino (2014–2021),

, Doha, Qatar * Mistura Restaurant (October 1997–September 2019), co-founded with Paolo Paolini, 256 Davenport Road, Toronto, Ontario * Sopra Upper Lounge (c. 2011–c. 2019), 256 Davenport Road, Toronto, Ontario

Personal life

He is married to Rosa Capra and has raised two sons with her, Andrew (born in 1988) and Daniel (born in 1990). In June 2018, three days before his 30th birthday, Capra's eldest son Andrew passed away in an undisclosed accident while living in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Capra currently resides in the

Lorne Park Lorne Park is a suburban residential neighbourhood located in southwestern Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, that was first established as a resort. History Lorne Park shares a common history with Clarkson. Before the arrival of the Europeans, all ...

neighborhood in Mississauga, Ontario.

References

External links

*
Massimo Capra
at the Chef and Restaurant Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Capra, Massimo 1960 births Living people Italian emigrants to Canada People from the Province of Cremona Canadian television chefs Participants in Canadian reality television series Canadian restaurateurs Canadian male chefs Italian television chefs