Chef's Story

This week’s featured guest on Chef’s Story is Paul Bartolotta. In 1980, Paul graduated from the Restaurant and Hotel Management Program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. His cultural education began with New York restaurateur, Tony May, owner at the time of the Rainbow Room and founder of Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani, the international food society devoted to maintaining the traditions and standards of classical Italian colleagues. Initially instituted as a six-month tour of duty for Paul, this stint evolved into a seven-year education of the highest order. Working in some of the country’s most prestigious restaurants, the aspiring Chef studied all phases of managing a first class restaurant. Paul was Executive Chef/Managing Partner of Spiaggia, located in Chicago, from 1991 to 2000. He developed his culinary artistry in some of Europe’s most distinguished restaurants. Winner of the coveted James Beard Best Midwest Chef Award in 1994 and The James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in 2009, Bartolotta dire