User:Cpellegrino1/sandbox

Carla Pellegrino
CARLA PELLEGRINO (Chef Carla Pellegrino)

Executive Summary: Carla Pellegrino, once Carla Madeira, was born in Rio de Janeiro to a Portuguese father and a second-generation Italian mother. As early as age 10, Pellegrino was cooking daily for her family and helping run her mother's catering business, which educated her in the preparation of traditional Brazilian, Italian and Portuguese cuisine. At age 16, chef moved to Liguria, Italy, where she owned a small store where her passion for cooking inspired her to conduct cooking demonstrations daily. In 1997, travels brought her to the United States, where she attended the French Culinary Institute in NYC and in 2000, graduated with honors. In May 2000, she and Frank Pellegrino Jr opened and successfully established Baldoria Restaurant on 8th Avenue and Broadway at the heart of NYC's theater district. At the end of 2006, a dream became a reality and Pellegrino led the culinary team as the executive chef to open Rao’s Las Vegas. She took 10 of the original recipes from the legendary East Harlem's Italian restaurant, added her own traditional North Italian cuisine and built a high volume menu concept keeping in mind quality of ingredients and consistency and at the same time translating the family style operated by Rao’s family at its ten table restaurant since 1886.

Pellegrino has been featured on Top Chef, Today Show, CBS Morning Show, Fox News National, Throwdown with Bobby Flay (which she won), Food & Wine, Bon Appetit and multiple other national and local news outlets.

VENTURES:

BRATALIAN                                                                              Henderson, NV Executive Chef/Owner                                              January 2, 2011 to Present

MEATBALL SPOT                                                                     Las Vegas, NV Executive Chef/Owner                                                              October 25, 2012

BACIO by Carla Pellegrino                                                       Las Vegas, NV Executive Chef                                                  March 21, 2011 to October, 2012

RAO's Las Vegas, Caesars Palace		   Las Vegas, NV Executive Chef/Owner	                                 September 2006 to November 2010

 Successfully developed the concept, menu and logistics of the culinary operations of Rao’s Las Vegas from pre-opening to present  	Led and helped market the brand to new levels including mass service to over 500 covers daily, the first service of lunch and to weekend business and media opportunities that made it a household name 	Wrote, designed and produced all seasonal and culinary event menus 	Instrumental in the success, respectability and recognition of the restaurant 	Analyzed recipes, determined food, labor and overhead costs and assigned prices to menu items 	Solely responsible for training, managing and developing 35 cooks and 4 sous-chefs 	Supervised cooking and other kitchen personnel, coordinating their assignments to ensure economical and timely food production 	Observed methods of food preparation, cooking, sizes of portions and garnishing of foods to ensure food was prepared in prescribed manner •	Led the culinary team to host Bon Appétit Uncork'd Las Vegas Masters Series Dinner and Grand Tasting 2008/2009 •	Successfully cooked for and contributed to the success of "A Night at Rao's" at the James Beard House in NYC. Events resulted in more than $80.000,00 raised in 2008 and 2009

Baldoria Restaurant	New York, New York Executive Chef/Owner 	January 2000 to September 2006

•	Led the kitchen team through a remarkable Grand Opening at May 11, 2000, hosting 650 people for a James Beard Awards After-Party •	Wrote, designed and produced seasonal, party, reception and event menus •	Executed daily operations of cooks training and performance, menu preparation and daily specials •	Coordinated activities and training of staff in preparing and cooking food to ensure an efficient and profitable restaurant •	Estimated food consumption and purchased food and kitchen supplies •	Trained and managed 28 cooks and two sous chefs and achieved significant improvements in their productivity •	Supervised cooking and other kitchen personnel, coordinating their assignments to ensure economical and timely food production •	Trained each cook one-on-one to ensure proper execution of their tasks at different sections of the kitchen

Education: French Culinary Institute	New York, NY The 'Grand Diplome' in French Culinary Arts	2000

Languages: Italian, Portuguese, English Spanish

Affiliations: VIP member of James Beard Foundation - NYC

Testimonials: “Carla is one of those rare people that are just as happy chopping garlic as she is discussing marketing strategies. I am haunted by her Orecchiette with Broccoli Raba and Sausage.... one day I will get it right. Carla is a warm caring person and a pleasure to work with. I hope to have the opportunity to work with her again someday.”

“Carla’s personality and her skills in the kitchen are qualities rarely found in the same person. Carla - thanks for all that you do for our customers!” Jordan D. Clark, VP of Sales, Harrah’s Entertainment

“I've had the pleasure of knowing Carla for several years. In addition to her exceptional skills in the kitchen, Carla is a strong manager and leader. I would welcome the opportunity to work with her again.” John Unwin, Sr. Vice President and General Manager, Caesars Palace

“Astonishing is just one of the buzz words I would use to describe Carla, since the day she stepped foot at Caesars Palace to open Rao’s she continuously impressed each and every one of us. Her commitment to quality, completed simplistically and her desire to achieve perfection is incredible. It was an honor to work with her, I cherished every meal she prepared and looked forward to her calling and saying you have to try this. You wouldn’t find a more seasoned professional who truly loves what she does.” Greg Waldron, Former V.P. Food & Beverage, Caesars Palace

“Carla Pellegrino is one of the finest chefs to appear on the De Gustibus stage. Her unparalleled culinary skills and vivacious energy made her one of the most beloved host chefs at De Gustibus Cooking School at Macy's Herald Square, and we'd have her back in an instant!" Salvatore Rizzo, Owner/Director, De Gustibus Cooking School @ Macy's Herald Square

“Meatball Spot was voted one of the Top Newcomers of 2012” Eater.com

“Meatball Spot was voted to be one of the Top 10 New restaurants in Las Vegas” Gayot.com

“Crowd-pleasers include Chef Carla Pellegrino’s spicy tomato sauce and mac and cheese, popular with in-the-know locals.” New York Post

“Have a ball with the likes of a talented, passionate chef— Chef Carla Pellegrino. The pizzas are sensational and the dessert, in terms of calories per dollar, is a deal and a half.” Vegas Seven

“The restaurant is turning out to be a celebrity magnet.” “A true meat-lover’s paradise also boasts a fab white-grape sangria and some of the best milkshakes in Vegas.” WHERE Las Vegas

Recognitions:

James Beard Award - Women in Food - honored Chef Guest - April 2009

Beard Bites September 2009 issue - featured as "The Best Pasta Recipe of the winter 2009"

Honored as “The executive chef in charge and hostess of the outstanding and ancient annual culinary event” promoted by the legendary Massonaire Organization "Chaine des Rotisseurs"

Featured in Vegas Magazine - My Style food issue - 2 full pages - October 2009

Featured in Vegas Magazine - Chef's Talk - 1/2 page - May 2009

Featured at Media Coverage - Hello! Magazine (Canada) - 3 full pages - September 2009

Among the best chefs in the country at the Bon Appetit event - Chefs in the Sky 2009

Featured at the FOOD NETWORK throughout the month of December 2009, as Bobby Flay challenger and winner of the annual Christmas special "Throwdown with Bobby Flay"

Featured in marketing materials posted nationally including billboards, full-page advertisements in Bon Appettit and The New York Times, together with colleagues Francois Payard, Guy Savoy, Bradley Ogden and Bobby Flay

Among the 5 chosen spoken female chefs for the LA premier of movie "Julie & Julia" in 2009, about the legendary culinary icon Julia Child

Among the most recognized chefs in the country such as Bobby Flay, Cat Cora and Guy Savoy, as one of “The Master Chefs” for the Bon Appetit’s UNCORK’D Las Vegas event from 2007 to 2010; one of the biggest destination culinary event in US

The Heart Chef Chair for the “American Heart Association”, Chair Chef of their annual culinary event “Flavors of the Heart’ 2012

Winner of Annual The Best of Vegas award from the Review Journal on Best new restaurant category (Bratalian) for 2011

Winner of the Best Italian restaurant in Henderson – NV – with Bratalian for US Commerce Association 2011 and 2012

Winner of The Best of Vegas from critics and people for the Review Journal with Bacio by Carla Pellegrino for Best Italian in Las Vegas in 2011

Honored by James Beard Foundation once again, hosted a “Spring in Italy” at the James Beard House in New York City on March 15, 2012

Bacio by Carla Pellegrino received an honorable mention by GAYOT.COM as one of the Top Ten Best New restaurants in US for 2011

Participating as a contestant at the Bravo channel’s culinary series Top Chef season 10 – Seattle – 21 Chefs around the country were selected from 70,000 auditioning Chefs from around the world. It premieres on Wednesday, November 7, 2012.

Carl Pellegrino featured as Most Beautiful in Vegas Rated, January 2013

Featured on the cover of Syck Magazine, January 2013

BRATALIAN wins The Best of Vegas 2013 – The Best Italian Restaurant Category - By the Las Vegas Review Journal – The Editor’s award

BRATALIAN mention in USA TODAY April 2013 edition as one of the Top Ten Best Italian Restaurants in Las Vegas

BRATALIAN wins The Best of Henderson by USCA, U.S. Commerce Association 2011, 2012 and 2013

Carla Pellegrino has been selected as a 2013 Woman Who Means Business for Las Vegas Review Journal.

A record 150 nominations were received this year and our editorial committee selected you as an honoree based upon your professional accomplishments and commitments to the community.