AI Summary
5 min readThe Chef Who Outlasted the Noise
Tom Colicchio has been cooking professionally for nearly 50 years, and this week marks a rare double milestone: the 25th anniversary of his restaurant Craft and the 20th season of Top Chef, where he has served as head judge since the beginning. In conversation, he moves easily between the gritty New York restaurant scene of the 1980s and the very different industry he helps oversee today—offering a perspective that is neither nostalgic nor dismissive, but grounded in what he has actually seen change.
The Economics of a Different Era
Colicchio opened Gramercy Tavern in 1994, a 5,000-square-foot restaurant that would become an institution. The rent was $9,000 a month. The neighborhood, then on the edge of the Flatiron district, was dangerous enough that someone was shot and killed on the corner during his time there. When he first looked at the space, the entire front was boarded up and covered in graffiti.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction & Early Career** - Host introduces Tom Colicchio, celebrating Craft's 25th anniversary and Top Chef's 20th season; Tom reflects on his 50-year cooking career.
- 2 (11:54) **Quilted Giraffe & The Changing Industry** - Tom details his experience at Quilted Giraffe, a restaurant open only Monday through Friday, and contrasts it with today's high costs and saturation.
- 3 (16:15) **Opening Gramercy Tavern & Craft** - Tom talks about opening Gramercy Tavern in 1994 for $9,000 a month rent, and the dangerous neighborhood at the time.
- 4 (19:08) **Toxic Restaurant Culture & NOMA Allegations** - Tom addresses toxic kitchen culture, physical abuse, and the NOMA allegations, arguing that pushing yourself is different from abusing others.
- 5 (21:33) **Apprenticeships vs. Culinary School** - Tom argues for real apprenticeship programs over unpaid stages, noting that working for free in France was a choice he made, not a privilege.
- 6 (24:49) **Managing His Own Kitchens** - Tom explains how he keeps his restaurants from becoming abusive, emphasizing hiring carefully and never making it personal.
- 7 (26:28) **Craft's Design & Philosophy** - Tom discusses the design of Craft, which uses natural materials like wood, leather, and bronze, and was inspired by the concept of seeing how things work.
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Show Notes
Expense Account is currently between seasons, but we had an opportunity to speak to culinary legend Tom Colicchio at his home in New York. We have more exciting announcements about the show later this spring, but in the meantime, enjoy this intermission episode.
This week, J Lee spoke to Tom Colicchio. The restaurateur and TV star just celebrated the 25th anniversary of his iconic restaurant Craft. You might also know him as a judge on all 21 seasons of “Top Chef,” and as a co-founder of Gramercy Tavern. This episode covers:
* What it was like to shop at Union Square Farmer’s Market in the ‘90s
* How the cost of opening a restaurant in New York City has changed over the last three decades
* Training in restaurants vs. training in culinary school
* How Tom almost ended up in “The Sopranos”
Expense Account is a food podcast for everyone. Insiders, outsiders, your mom, your dad, New Yorkers, Angelenos and also people from Florida (we love you). Anyone who enjoys eating food. It’s even for people who hate food. Feed Me’s resident food critic, J Lee will be joined each week by interesting and noteworthy guests from various fields who will make you laugh, they might even make you cry, who knows. You’ll find us here each week. Subscribe to stay relevant.
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