Marc Forgione

Marc Forgione is an Iron chef and owner of restaurant Marc Forgione. He was born on December 16, 1978 and raised in Bellerose, New York. Chef Forgione competed on and won season three of The Next Iron Chef in 2010.^[1]

Early life

Marc began his career at the age of 16, joining his father, Larry Forgione, in the kitchen at An American Place. Marc fully embraced his father's livelihood and has built on his unique culinary foundation to carve out an identity of his own.^[2] Marc is related to Francesco Forgione, a Catholic saint, who is a great, great uncle of his father Larry.^[3]

Marc opted for a traditional four-year education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he graduated from the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. He spent his summers working the line at restaurants in New York, with chef Kazuto Matsusaka. These stints would lay the groundwork for Marc's post-collegiate toils, again alongside his father at An American Place and later under Patricia Yeo at AZ. When Yeo and celebrated chef Pino Maffeo opened Pazo, they took Marc along to serve as sous chef at the short-lived eatery. When Laurent Tourondel set out to develop his flagship, BLT Steak, he recruited Marc as his sous chef. He is the newest Iron Chef.

In an effort to diversify his experience, Marc left for France, where he secured a series of humble posts under Michel Guerard in Eugenie les Bains. Working at three of the region's restaurants, Le Pres D'Eugenie, Ferme aux Grives and Le Cuisine Minceur.^[4]

Career

When he returned to New York, Marc reunited with Tourondel, who invited him to serve as chef de cuisine at BLT Prime. The restaurant would go on to earn sterling accolades from relevant publications nationwide, culminating in a 27 in the Zagat Guide, making it the highest-ranking steakhouse in the history of New York City. Following his role as chef de cuisine, Marc was named corporate chef for the BLT Restaurant Group, a position that enabled him to develop recipes and maintain the quality of the BLT brand as it went on to include more restaurants across the country. Marc has played a key role in the openings of BLT Fish and BLT Market, as well as the Washington, D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Dallas locations of BLT Steak.

With Marc Forgione, formerly known as Forge, Marc’s first restaurant, he has created an approachable place "that people walk by and are compelled to enter and where the ingredients are the star." Marc received a coveted Michelin star in the Michelin Guide New York City 2011, making him the youngest American-born chef and owner to receive the honor in consecutive years (2010, 2011). In addition, Marc received a two-star review from Sam Sifton of The New York Times.^[5]

The restaurant also earned the distinction of being named "Key Newcomer" by Zagat Guide 2009, "Top 25 Restaurants in NYC" by Modern Luxury magazine and "All Star Eatery" by Forbes magazine. Marc was awarded "Star Chefs Rising Star of the Year Award 2010," named "Rising Star 2008" from Restaurant Hospitality magazine and mentioned "New Formalist" by Esquire magazine in 2008.

Marc currently lives in New York City.

References

1. ^ Miller, Jenny. "Next Iron Chef Marc Forgione Is ‘Not Just There to Sign Autographs’". 22 November 2010. New York Media LLC. http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/11/next_iron_chef_marc_forgione_i.html. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
2. ^ DeLucia, Matt. "'Next Iron Chef' is Marc Forgione". 22 November 2010. STLtoday.com. http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/television/gail-pennington/article_6d161400-f654-11df-8a64-0017a4a78c22.html. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
3. ^ "Why Larry Forgione is the Godfather of American cuisine". 1 January 2008. Restaurant Insider. http://www.newyorkrestaurantinsider.com/2008jan-larry_forgione.asp. Retrieved 1 January 2011. 
4. ^ "Marc Forgione: Secrets Behind the Next Iron Chef". travelintaste.com. http://www.travelsintaste.com/Listing.aspx?id=2739. Retrieved 10 December 2010. 
5. ^ Sifton, Sam (5 October 2010). "Marc Forgione". 6 October 2010 (The New York Times). http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/dining/06rest.html?_r=1. Retrieved 10 December 2010.