Michael "Mike" Colameco is an American chef, author, and media personality. A 45-year veteran of the restaurant industry, he is the host and producer for Mike Colameco's Real Food television show, retooled from the original 3-part series "The Food Dude". Since 2006, he has hosted a live weekly radio show called Food Talk. Colameco is a long time contributor to ''

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews, who was also the ...

'', ''Edible Manhattan'', ''Edible New Jersey'', ''

Snooth Snooth is a social networking website based in New York City, United States. It was founded in November 2006 by Philip J. K. James, a graduate of Oxford University and Columbia Business School. The company raised $300,000 in seed financing in D ...

'', and ''Guitar Aficionado'' magazines and in 2009, he published
Mike Colameco's Food Lover's Guide to New York City
' with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Career

Chef Colameco began working in the restaurant industry as a busboy at the age of 13 and he is a graduate of the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

in Hyde Park, New York. Early mentors include chef Seppi Renggli of the Four Seasons Restaurant, where Colameco worked as a line cook and chef Christian Delouvrier at The Maurice, where he worked as a sous chef. Colameco has worked as a chef for numerous New York City-based restaurants, including the legendary

Tavern on the Green Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has been op ...

Windows on the World Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors (106th and 107th) of the North Tower (Building One) of the original World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. It included a restaurant called ...

, and The Ritz Carlton Hotel. Taking the helm of his own restaurant, he was chef/owner of the seasonally-focused, The Globe restaurant, near his home based in Cape May, NJ. Importer After selling his restaurant in 1993, Colameco worked as an import food broker and founder of MECO Trading through 2002. As a consultant for US importers of record, he has worked with overseas food manufacturers, mostly in China as a sourcing supplier for US-based Importer Distributors. Television & Radio Host Colameco's popular long-running TV series, Mike Colameco's Real Food, is a pioneer in food television. Shot documentary-style, the show provides a backstage look at how the most influential people in today's restaurant scene transform the way we think about food. Featured chefs include

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, the Berkshires and Dubai. He is best known for h ...

Thomas Keller Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Founda ...

, Gabrielle Hamilton,

Dan Barber Dan Barber (born October 2, 1969) is the chef and co-owner of Blue Hill in Manhattan and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, United States. He is the author of ''The Third Plate''. Education He is a 1992 graduate of Tufts Un ...

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...

Eric Ripert The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

Alain Ducasse Alain Ducasse (; born 13 September 1956) is a French-born Monégasque chef. He operates a number of restaurants including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester which holds three stars (the top rating) in the Michelin Guide. Early life and career D ...

April Bloomfield April Bloomfield (born 1974) is a British chef who has opened two New York restaurants: The Spotted Pig (closed January 26, 2020) and The Breslin Bar & Dining Room. Bloomfield had previously worked at several restaurants in the United Kingdom, ...

and countless other industry taste makers. Mike Colameco's Real Food has been on the air since 2000 via New York's flagship PBS affiliate,

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

, as well as

NJTV NJ PBS (known as NJTV prior to 2021) is a public television network serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. The network is owned by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (NJPBA), an agency of the New Jersey state government which owns the ...

. In 2014, the show was picked up for national distribution and airs year-round on the CREATE TV Channel. He is the host and the producer of the show. Food Talk with Michael Colameco is a weekly one-hour radio show and podcast produced by the

Heritage Radio Network Heritage Radio Network is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit covering the world of food, drink and agriculture. The member-supported radio station has more than one million monthly listeners in over 200 countries. History In 2009, largely insp ...

. Each hour is a stand alone multi-themed program featuring live interviews with a myriad of guests including chefs, restaurateurs, cookbook authors and food writers. Discussions cover a wide range of topics including ingredient sourcing, cooking, baking, wine, equipment, mixology, beer, farming, foraging, fisheries, sustainability, chocolate, food trends, travel, diet, health, music and his take on the many restaurants he frequents. Food Talk has been on the air since the mid 1990s, founded by the long-time host New York's Food Maven, Arthur Schwartz. A live show airing six days a week on WOR 710, Colameco became the host in 2006, replacing short runs by

Tyler Florence Tyler Florence (born March 3, 1971) is a chef and television host of several Food Network shows. He graduated from the College of Culinary Arts at the Charleston, South Carolina, campus of Johnson & Wales University in 1991. He was later given an ...

in 2005 and

Rocco DiSpirito Rocco DiSpirito (born November 19, 1966) is an American chef and reality television personality based in New York City, known for starring in the program '' The Restaurant''. Early life and education DiSpirito was born in Queens, New York. He gr ...

in 2004. Following a change in programming at WOR, Food Talk with Michael Colameco now airs weekly via the Heritage Radio Network. Book ''Mike Colameco's Food Lover's Guide to New York City'' by

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

Awards Mousquetaire d' Armagnac, 2003 Compagnon du Beaujolais, 2006

Fitness

An avid sportsman, from 1985 to 1991, Colameco fought for the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Travers ...

amateur boxing team and at various times, was the NYAC Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Prior to that, he was a paid sparring partner for boxers

Chris Reid Chris Reid (born 4 November 1971) is a Scottish former association football goalkeeper, who played for Hibernian, Hamilton Academical and Stirling Albion. Reid spent nearly 10 years at Hibs, but only played in 35 league games as Hibs enjoyed ...

Kevin Moley Kevin E. Moley is an American businessman and government official. He served in several government positions, including Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1992 to 1993 and Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization ...

, and

Donny LaLonde Donny Lalonde (born March 12, 1960) is a retired professional boxer. His nickname is "Golden Boy," after the Golden Boy statue atop the Manitoba Legislative Building in his boxing home town of Winnipeg. Lalonde held the WBC Light Heavyweight Ch ...

. In 1986, Colameco earned his Black Belt in

Kyokushin Karate is a style of karate originating in Japan. It is a style of stand-up fighting and is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training. Kyokushin Kaikan is the martial arts organization founded in 1964 by Korean-Jap ...

, and since then, he has completed five

New York City Marathons New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. An avid open water ocean swimmer, in 2014 his New York Athletic Club 3-man relay team finished 2nd in the men's open division in the FKCC 12.5 mile relay, completing the course in 5 hours 26 minutes.

Personal life

He divides his time between homes on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and Cape May, NJ. Colameco is married to Heijung Park-Colameco, a real estate agent and native of South Korea. The couple has two sons.

References

External links

Website for Mike Colameco's Real Food

Website for Mike Colameco's radio show on WOR710 in New York City

Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colameco, Mike PBS people Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni