i. Biography
"Everything I do, everything I make, is done with honesty, integrity, and soul." In Scott Conant’s work, the line functions as a production standard rather than decoration. The register is rooted in a transatlantic table: savory food, polished composition, appetite kept visible. The cooking depends on refinement that does not bury the plate’s purpose, and on technique that supports warmth rather than calling attention to itself.
Coming Up
Technical training gave the kitchen work its first frame through W.F. Kaynor Technical High School and Culinary Institute of America. For Scott Conant, those foundations were followed by service inside restaurant discipline at San Domenico in New York City, where an intern learns pace, hierarchy, and repetition under pressure. Pastry training at Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, Germany added a different kind of control: measurement, timing, and the precision expected when small errors show quickly. Kitchen work in New York tightened after the return to San Domenico in New York City as sous chef. The next stations — chef de cuisine at Il Toscanaccio in Upper East Side, New York City (from 1995), then executive chef at City Eatery in Bowery, New York City — moved Scott Conant through the practical demands of running food, shaping menus, and answering to a city that notices both polish and weakness. The New York fine-dining phase put the cooking into a wider public conversation. As founder / chef at L'Impero in Tudor City, New York City (2002–2007), Scott Conant carried that cuisine into a room where clarity and control mattered. As founder / chef at Alto in Midtown Manhattan, New York City (until 2007), the work continued in a more formal register without losing its savory center. As founder / chef at Scarpetta in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City (from 2008), the idiom became more closely associated with direct flavor, confidence, and a less cluttered idea of refinement. Television added another trade setting: tasting under compression, explaining judgment, and reading whether a dish holds together. As judge of Chopped (since 2009), Scott Conant worked in that evaluative register. As host and head judge at 24 Hour Restaurant Battle in Food Network (from 2010), and later host at Chopped Sweets in Food Network (from 2020), the work shifted toward public assessment without separating from the same kitchen habits: palate, structure, execution, and the ability to say why something succeeds or fails. The current restaurant group extends the same cross-cultural vocabulary across formats. As founder / chef of Mora Italian (since 2017), founder / chef of Cellaio (since 2018), and founder of Sprezza (since 2018), Scott Conant’s work remains organized around flavor, craft, and rooms built for service rather than around a single restaurant identity.
Today
The modern osteria format at Mora Italian in Phoenix, Arizona, gives the cooking a setting built around ease, sharing, and a table that can move between casual appetite and composed execution. In Scott Conant’s larger body of work, the restaurant treats familiar flavor as active material rather than memory alone: clear enough to read quickly, flexible enough to support a contemporary room.
Signature
Signature dishes include Pizzette Fritte. The form depends on immediacy: heat, crispness, and timing delivered in a small, direct package. In Scott Conant’s cooking, Pizzette Fritte fits the broader method — recognizable, generous, and pleasure-led, but still dependent on control at the pass and a cook’s attention to fundamentals.
Standing
Scott Conant has received James Beard Foundation — Best New Restaurant for L'Impero (2003). Scott's honors include Best New Chef (2004), Best New Restaurant for L'Impero (2003), and Winner, Season 3 of Chopped All-Stars. The recognitions cover both restaurant craft and competition performance. Best New Restaurant for L'Impero (2003) marked an early New York achievement; Best New Chef (2004) confirmed the momentum around that work; Winner, Season 3 of Chopped All-Stars placed the same authority inside the faster, more exposed conditions of televised cooking.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Scott
What is Scott Conant's current role?
Scott Conant is chef associated with Cellaio Steak, Chef Scott Conant’s take on the traditional Italian steakhouse.
Where did Scott Conant train or study?
Scott Conant trained at W.F. Kaynor Technical High School and Culinary Institute of America.
What recognition has Scott Conant received?
Best New Chef (2004).
