Antonia Lofaso

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Antonia Lofaso is an American chef who has appeared on the reality TV shows Top Chef, Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen and Restaurant Startup, among others. She owns the restaurants Black Market Liquor Bar, Scopa Italian Roots, and DAMA in Los Angeles, California.

Restaurant career[]

Lofaso attended the French Culinary Institute in New York City; during that time she was also a manager at Sean Combs' restaurant, Justin. She then worked as a chef at the Los Angeles restaurants Spago and Foxtail.[1]

Lofaso is currently a co-owner and the executive chef of the Los Angeles restaurants Black Market Liquor Bar, DAMA, and Scopa Italian Roots.[2]

Television career[]

In 2008, Lofaso appeared as a contestant on season four of the competition series Top Chef, also known as Top Chef: Chicago; she came in 4th place. She appeared on season eight of Top Chef, known as Top Chef: All-Stars, from 2010 to 2011, coming in 3rd place. In 2014 she appeared on an episode of Top Chef Duels, competing against Mike Isabella, who had beaten her on Top Chef: All-Stars; she won the "duel."

In 2012, Lofaso appeared on the short-lived Game Show Network show Beat the Chefs; she was one of three professional chefs that the amateur chef contestants had to compete against. The show ran for four episodes.

She was one of a rotating group of judges on the 2013-2017 Food Network competition show Cutthroat Kitchen. She also competed in (and won) Cutthroat's special 2016 "Judging Judges" episode, beating fellow regular judges Simon Majumdar and Jet Tila as well as Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian.

She served as the restaurant adviser for seasons 2 and 3 of the CNBC competition/investment show Restaurant Startup, in 2015 and 2016.

She is a judge on Guy's Grocery Games, on which she has also competed (and won). In 2020, she appeared on Selena Gomez's cooking show, Selena + Chef. She also made an appearance on the 16th season of The Bachelorette, during the hometown episode.

Personal life[]

Lofaso's daughter Xea Myers was born in 2000 from her relationship with rapper Heavy D.[3] Lofaso has Italian (Sicilian), and Jewish roots.[4] She is known for her health and fitness lifestyle that includes hot and cold exposure via sauna and ice baths and heavy weightlifting.

References[]

  1. ^ Harris, Jenn (March 13, 2015). "Antonia Lofaso: Scopa and Black Market chef, and 'Busy Mom'". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ Abrams, Sandy (April 10, 2015). "Reality TV Can Be Secret Ingredient for Chef's Success". Huffington Post.
  3. ^ Lai, Angelica (March 9, 2015). "10 Questions With Chef Antonia Lofaso". Mom.me.
  4. ^ Vozza, Stephanie (November 21, 2013). "Dishing Up Family Traditions with Top Chef's Antonia Lofaso—and a Chance to Win a Trip to NYC". Parade. Retrieved April 25, 2016. 'My dad's Sicilian and my mom is half Italian and half Jewish,' says Bravo's Top Chef All Star.
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