Chris Bianco
American chef (born 1960)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Bianco is an American James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur in Phoenix, Arizona.[1][2] He operates restaurants in Arizona and California.[3]
Chris Bianco | |
|---|---|
| Born | The Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Known for | Italian food |
| Culinary career | |
Current restaurants
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Awards won
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Early life
Bianco was born in the Bronx in 1960, and grew up in Ossining, New York.[4][5] He had asthma as a child, forcing him to stay inside, where he watched his aunt cook.[4] At age 13 he began working at a local pizzeria. In 1985, he won two plane tickets to anywhere in the United States and, on a whim, chose to go to Phoenix.[4] When he got there, he felt connected to the place. Bianco took chef's jobs in Italy and Santa Fe, N.M, and returned to Phoenix in 1993.[6]
Culinary career
Bianco began making mozzarella in his apartment and selling it to Italian restaurants.[4] Later, Guy Coscos, a specialty grocer in Phoenix offered him the opportunity to make and sell pizzas in the corner of his store.[4] Bianco's pizza was popular and he realized he could make pizza for a living.
Bianco opened Pizzeria Bianco with business partner Susan Pool, in 1993.[6] In 1996, the restaurant moved to 623 East Adams Street, the historic site of Baird Machine Shop in Heritage Square.
In 2010, Bianco was hospitalized due to a severe asthma attack and pneumonia.[7] The reason was years of exposure to airborne flour and smoke from making pizza, which caused him to pivot away from pizza-only restaurants and toward pasta.[7] Bianco also operates Bar Bianco, Tratto, and Pane Bianco, located in Midtown Phoenix.[1][7]
In September 2022, Bianco was featured in the Netflix documentary series Chef's Table: Pizza.[8]