🇺🇸 United States · Italian cuisine · b. 1972
Pioneer of nose-to-tail cooking and winner of Top Chef Masters who championed offal and sustainable meat practices.
Chris Cosentino is an American celebrity chef and reality television personality known as the winner of Top Chef Masters, a competitor on The Next Iron Chef, and for his appearances on Iron Chef America. He was raised in Rhode Island and is a 1994 graduate of Johnson & Wales University. Growing up in Newport, Rhode Island, he spent his time clamming, commercial fishing, and cranking the pasta machine in his grandmother's kitchen. Raised in an Italian-American community, he has stated that he hated offal as a child, especially the tripe his Italian grandmother prepared. Since becoming a chef, he has embraced a 'whole-animal ethic' and pioneered the nose-to-tail movement in America.
Chris Cosentino ran San Francisco's Incanto for over a decade, where he cooked in the nose-to-tail style and earned high praise from critics nationwide. His innovative interpretations of rustic Italian fare earned the restaurant its first three-star review from the San Francisco Chronicle. Forbes Traveler called Incanto 'perhaps America's most adventurous nose-to-tail restaurant.' He launched the restaurant's celebrated Head-to-Tail Dinners in 2007, a yearly event that showcased dishes made from the entire animal, which became an iconic part of San Francisco's dining culture and inspired restaurants across the country.
Cosentino also created Boccalone, a celebrated cured meat company with manufacturing and retail operations in the Bay Area. In December 2014, he opened Cockscomb, a restaurant centered around updated interpretations of classic San Francisco dishes.
Whole-animal respect and resourcefulness. Cosentino believes that true sustainability and respect for the animal comes from using every part, wasting nothing, and creating exquisite dishes from ingredients often discarded. His philosophy celebrates offal and underutilized cuts as worthy of fine dining, turning them into expressions of technique and creativity rather than afterthoughts.
Restaurant celebrating whole-animal cooking and San Francisco culinary traditions.
Legendary nose-to-tail Italian restaurant; earned three-star SF Chronicle review.
Celebrated cured meat company with manufacturing and retail operations.
“Every part of the animal has value. Our job is to unlock that value through technique and creativity.”
— Nose-to-tail philosophy
“If you're going to eat the tenderloin, you have a responsibility to cook the kidney well.”
— Interview on whole-animal cooking
Graduates from Johnson & Wales University.
Becomes chef at Incanto in San Francisco.
Launches Head-to-Tail Dinners at Incanto; becomes iconic San Francisco event.
Recognized for nose-to-tail innovation and offal mastery.
Wins Top Chef Masters.
Opens Cockscomb restaurant.
Continues Boccalone cured meat operations and consulting.
Nose-to-tail cooking is a philosophy of using every part of an animal in cooking, eliminating waste and treating every part as worthy of excellence. Cosentino pioneered this approach in fine dining.
Boccalone is a celebrated cured meat company created by Cosentino with manufacturing and retail operations in the San Francisco Bay Area, reflecting his mastery of traditional Italian curing techniques.
Growing up, Cosentino actually disliked offal, especially tripe prepared by his Italian grandmother. As a chef, he discovered its culinary potential and embraced whole-animal cooking as both economically and environmentally responsible.
Head-to-Tail Dinners are yearly events at Incanto (started 2007) showcasing dishes prepared from every part of a single animal, demonstrating the breadth and excellence possible in nose-to-tail cooking.
Yes. Cosentino won Top Chef Masters (Season 4), solidifying his status as one of America's most innovative and skilled chefs.
Read more on Wikipedia