Chef
Chad Colby
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Los Angeles, California, United States
i. Biography
Chad Colby works in Los Angeles with a method shaped by restraint, fire, and repetition. At Antico Nuovo, where he is executive chef, that method shows up in Rosticciana, Tuscan pork ribs perfumed with fennel pollen. The dish gives a clear read on the line of his cooking: rustic form, controlled execution, and enough heat to keep the edges alive. For Colby, the sequence is practical rather than romantic—cook the job, open the restaurant, build the next one.
The Path
The kitchen discipline behind Chad Colby’s work was formed early at Mozza in Los Angeles, where he worked as chef inside one of the city’s most closely watched operations. Later, as opening chef at Chi Spacca (2013–2015), he worked in the pressure of launch service, where timing, consistency, and speed matter as much as flavor. Those posts established the rhythm that still defines his cooking: measured, exact, and built for forward motion. That same approach now carries into Antico, where Chad is founder and chef (since 2019), extending the same standards into a project under his own name.
The Work Today
Antico Nuovo (Los Angeles), and the restaurant’s identity is shaped by a style that is forceful without being heavy, exact without being fussy. The work there is current and ongoing, with the kind of control that lets a plate organize a room. He also leads Antico Nuovo as executive chef, bringing the same focus to a second kitchen in Los Angeles. Across both rooms, the emphasis stays on structure, flavor, and the discipline of doing the work cleanly.
Signature
Chad’s signature dishes include plin dell'alta langa, Rosticciana, foglie d'ulivo, tomahawk pork chop, and bistecca fiorentina. Read together, they show a cooking language grounded in Italy and attentive to shape, cut, and texture. Folded pasta, rib, leaf-shaped pasta, large-format pork, and beef carved with intent all point to the same working idea that runs from Mozza to Chi Spacca (2013–2015) and into Antico (since 2019) and Antico Nuovo: make the detail count, and let the plate carry the argument.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Chad
What is Chad Colby's current role?
Chad Colby is Executive Chef.
Where did Chad Colby work before?
Earlier in their career, Chad Colby worked at Mozza and Chi Spacca.
What recognition has Chad Colby received?
Best Chef West nomination.
