CARLA PELLEGRINO

Award winning Chef 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, helping run her mother’s catering business. At age 16, chef moved to Liguria, Italy. In 1997, travels to the United States, where she attended the French Culinary Institute in NYC, and graduated with honors.

In May 2000, she and Frank Pellegrino Jr opened and successfully established Baldoria Restaurant on 8th Avenue and Broadway; in 2006, Carla Pellegrino led the culinary team as the executive chef to open Rao’s Las Vegas. She took the ten (10) original recipes from the legendary East Harlem’s Italian restaurant, added her own traditional North Italian cuisine and built a high volume menu concept.

Followed by other successful concepts such as: Bratalian, Bacio by Carla, Meatball Spot and Touche Miami Pellegrino has been featured on Top Chef 10, Today Show, CBS Morning Show, Fox News National, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Christmas Special (which she won), Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Beat Bobby Flay and multiple other national and local news outlets.