Nancy Silverton

Spago, Campanile, LaBrea Bakery

Silverton moved to Los Angeles in 1982 and was hired by Wolfgang Puck as Spago's opening pastry chef, and in 1986, she wrote her first cookbook, Desserts.^[5][6]

In 1989, Silverton and her late husband, chef Mark Peel, opened Campanile with Manfred Krankl. Critic Jonathan Gold later wrote, "It is hard to overstate Campanile's contributions to American cooking."^[7] Silverton and Peel opened La Brea Bakery in a space which adjoined the main restaurant prior to the opening of Campanile. Silverton served as the head baker at the bakery and the head pastry chef at the restaurant, which was located on La Brea Avenue in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.^[8]

Silverton had experience baking bread while a pastry chef at Spago, and began to experiment with recipes after she read an article about Acme, an artisan bakery in Berkeley, California. She used the natural yeast from grapes, soaking them for days in flour and water. She shaped the loaves by hand, and let them rise twice over a two-day period. After six months and "hundreds" of attempts to perfect the recipe, she was satisfied.On Thanksgiving in 1990, the line to buy bread stretched around the block and partway down a side street.^[8][9]

Silverton and Peel were well known through their work at Spago and Michael's. It was difficult for customers to get reservations at Campanile due to its popularity, and during their first year, annual sales exceeded $2 million. Silverton baked bread all night, slept briefly, and woke mid-morning to prepare pastries and desserts for the restaurant. Then she would nap again before dinner. In 1991, she won the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Pastry Chef award. The Los Angeles Times wrote that she had "not only given Los Angeles great bread, but through her work at Campanile, she has virtually redefined what dessert is."^[10]

In 1992, she and Krankl went back to the group of investors who had funded Campanile, and built a much larger, fully staffed, commercial bakery. At the same time, they split the bakery into a separate entity. Silverton became less involved with the bakery in 1993, serving mainly as an advisor. In 1996, her second book, Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery: Recipes for the Connoisseur, was published.^[11] In 1997, Silverton appeared on PBS's Baking with Julia featuring Julia Child. Silverton prepared a crème fraîche brioche torte with fresh fruit poached in white wine that moved Child to tears. "It's a dessert to cry over," Child said. "That's a triumph."^[12],[13]

In 1998, Silverton began "Grilled Cheese Night" at Campanile. It became a trend, and Silverton was referred to as the "godmother of grilled cheese sandwiches" on NBC^[14][15] Her book Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever--from Thursday Nights at Campanile was published in 2005.^[16] In 2001, an Irish investment group, IAWS, purchased La Brea Bakery for a price reported to range from $56 million to $68.5 million. Silverton earned more than $5 million in the sale, and invested with Bernard Madoff; her profits were lost in 2008 with the collapse of his pyramid scheme.^[8] In 2005, she and Peel separated; Silverton left Campanile after their divorce in 2007.^[17][18] The restaurant closed in October 2012.^[19]

Los Angeles restaurants

In 2007, Silverton partnered with Joseph Bastianich and his family's restaurant group to open Pizzeria Mozza on the corner of Melrose Ave and Highland Ave in Los Angeles, California. Osteria Mozza, which served traditional Italian cuisine with an emphasis on Californian seasonality, was opened next door. A year after opening, Osteria Mozza received its first Michelin star. Osteria Mozza holds a green Michelin star for its sustainability efforts. ^[20][21][22]

chi SPACCA opened in 2013. It was based on a concept developed from the family-style salumi dinners previously held at Scuola di Pizza, which occupied the same premises. The restaurant established the first in-house “dry cure” program in Los Angeles, aimed at developing Italian charcuterie techniques. ^{[citation needed]}

Silverton established Pizzeria Mozza in 2012 in Newport Beach and Pizette in Culver City in 2019. The Newport Beach location closed in October 2024.^[23] Pizzette closed in 2023. The Barish, located in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, also closed in 2023.

In November 2025, Silverton opened Max & Helen's, a diner-style restaurant, with long-time collaborator Phil Rosenthal.^[24]

Nancy's Fancy and Ojai

In June 2015, Silverton launched Nancy's Fancy, a line of seven flavors of gelato and sorbetto, sold in supermarkets. Originally based in Chatsworth,^[25] the company moved to a 6,000 square foot warehouse in the downtown LA Arts District in 2015.^[26]

Silverton was named Culinary Ambassador of the Farmhouse food and event space in Ojai, California in early 2019.^[27] She has co-hosted events at the Ojai Valley Inn. She participated in the first ever Ojai Food + Wine Festival.