Meet Chef Thomas

Growing up in a traditional Italian American home in New York, Sunday dinners were one of the things I looked forward to as a kid. Holidays? Well, this is where you could say the magic happened. We would all sit around my Nonna’s table and eat without limits for hours, because she spent 3 days cooking prior to the eating marathon…and saying you were full wasn’t an option. Imagine what it was like to sit at a table with 17 Italians with arancini balls, meatballs, chicken parmesan, pasta, eggplant, homemade pizza and lots of bread dipped in hot marinara sauce. Let me say, it was food Nirvana!

In 1998 my family and I moved from New York to South Florida, where I got my first job at a Coal-Fired Pizzeria as a bus boy. As much as my mom opposed my working in the food business, I quickly learned that this is where I belonged. Before long, I hand-stretched dough and made my first pizza in a coal-fired oven…. the rest is history.

I moved Back to New York for college, unaware that this is where my true culinary journey would begin. During college, I had your typical college job, a server at a family-owned pizza and pasta restaurant. When it was slow, I was in the kitchen asking questions and learning. The fast-paced environment really intrigued me but so did the energy; this was a place where I was able to imagine, create, and bring people together. For the next six years, I cooked everything I possibly could. I took a job as a Kitchen Operations Director at the first large scale ghost kitchen in NYC, cooking nine different cuisines in one kitchen. After too many long NY cold winters, it was time to take my talents elsewhere, so my college roommate and I packed up and made the trek cross country; excited to live the California dream.

After arriving in LA, I started working with a local wood-fired pizza restaurant in DTLA, as Head Chef and General Manager. We developed a 100% homemade, locally sourced Italian menu. Before long, this little restaurant became a downtown staple, bringing family, friends and coworkers together in a ‘Nonna’s kitchen table’ kind of way. This was the final step before bringing forth what I’d dreamed of for years; my own, handcrafted, from-the-heart catering company.

Allow me introduce to you: Fire & Wood Catering!