Chef
David DiBari
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Dobbs Ferry, New York, United States
i. Biography
In Dobbs Ferry, the cooking works from Italian principles rather than a fixed script. In David DiBari’s rooms, Italian is treated first as a working language: generous, elastic, tied to appetite and memory, and open to a measured bit of theater. Pizza dough can be opened for dessert, a pig can be portioned at the table, and the menu can move with the day’s ingredients and decisions. The point is not novelty for its own sake; it is tradition kept usable by a cook willing to keep it in motion.
The Trajectory
Formal technique came first through Culinary Institute of America, where David DiBari trained before entering Manhattan, NY kitchens. Work as a cook at Babbo and a cook at Danube put him inside rooms where precision, pace, and ambition were part of the daily standard. That foundation later returned to Dobbs Ferry in owner-operated form. As chef/owner of The Cookery (since 2009) and chef/owner of The Parlor, DiBari uses Italian cooking as a flexible craft: memory, pleasure, surprise, and technique held in the same frame rather than forced into a single format.
Current Practice
A personal restaurant language shows itself in how much range the kitchens allow without abandoning appetite. At The Cookery, where David DiBari is chef/owner, the work makes space for rusticity and wit, with dishes that do not treat Italian borders as fixed lines. Flavor leads; the format follows. Pizza, small plates, and drinks form the working structure at The Parlor in Dobbs Ferry, where DiBari is Chef/Owner, with a focus that includes Neapolitan pizza, progressive small plates, and craft cocktails. The register is informal by design: dough, char, sauce, acidity, smoke, crunch, and food built for passing across the table. “So from my cookery in the parlor, both my restaurants, we have our heirloom meatball recipe from my grandmother.” The line places family memory in active service rather than display. In DiBari’s use, inheritance is cooked, sold, adapted, and kept in the room with dough, sauce, and service. Format is not the through-line; method is. As Owner of Doughnation, and across The Cookery and The Parlor, DiBari’s work can move from a whole roasted pig to a puff of pizza dough split for dessert without needing those gestures to belong to the same category.
Signature
Signature dishes include Heirloom meatball recipe from his grandmother, House-extruded rigatoni with roasted bone marrow, and The Dough-wich.
Awards and Standing
The Michelin Guide awarded The Cookery a Bib Gourmand, recognition for the Dobbs Ferry restaurant where DiBari is Chef/Owner. The award fits the restaurant’s working balance: generosity, craft, and personality delivered in a format built around pleasure. “I try to be as bold and creative, and as tasteful as I possibly can.”
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of David
Who is David DiBari?
David DiBari is chef at The Cookery — Italian.
Where did David DiBari train or study?
David DiBari trained at Culinary Institute of America.
What is David DiBari known for?
Italian cooking.
