Tom Colicchio is probably most famous as the exacting head judge on Top Chef. But twenty-five years ago, when he opened his signature restaurant, Craft, in New York City, he revolutionized the American dining scene. And even as he accrued TV fame and wrote numerous books, he kept cooking there. Until now. On Saturday night, Colicchio closed the restaurant and brought an end to his career as a working chef. When he did, Esquire was in the kitchen with him. You can read our story about the end of a remarkable career—and an entire philosophy of cooking—below. –Kevin Dupzyk, features director
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Twenty-five years, 500,000 (or so) orders of short rib, and, finally, one last roast chicken. As the celebrity chef closes his signature restaurant and retires from professional cooking, Esquire joins him for the end.
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Tom Colicchio climbed the gray staircase from the basement kitchen and made his way toward New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s table. Colicchio is compact and lean, and he moves with purpose. You could spot him easily enough in his white chef’s jacket with “T.C.” on the left breast, under a special-edition apron embroidered with “25” to mark a quarter century since the opening of this, his signature restaurant, Craft. The anniversary had just passed, in March. For all those years, the restaurant has been the anchor of Colicchio’s reputation—the James Beard Award winner for Best New Restaurant in 2002; three stars from The New York Times. A PBS spot on the opening of the restaurant caught the eye of producers at Bravo who were looking for a head judge for a new show called Top Chef.
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At this critical moment in our young nation’s history, the New York Knicks are America’s team. Yeah, I said it. Damn the claim of that NFL franchise—the Knickerbockers, who won an NBA title for the first time in my lifetime, are the greatest present symbol in sports of what this country has extolled of itself. America the refuse-to-lose perennial winner capable of willing itself past the seeming impossible. America the meritocratic nation that values hard work, sacrifice, grit. An immigrant-welcoming melting-pot America that unifies to best its obstacles. America the land of free and brave dreamers. America the locus of human achievement. America the paradigmatic democracy.
By epitomizing much of that national mythology during their legendary playoff run, aka when collective effervescence over their feats seized not only New York’s five boroughs but every place not named San Antonio—the Knicks became a beacon bigger than basketball.
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Generally, you shouldn’t put on a bulletproof vest and shoot yourself in the chest with a gun. You shouldn’t strap yourself to a rocket, and no doctor would ever recommend continuing to perform stunts after suffering multiple concussions.
But Johnny Knoxville did those things and, in fact, made a very successful career out of it. Following a three-season TV show and five movies, Jackass will take a final bow in Jackass: Best and Last. So Knoxville stopped by Esquire for our latest “What I’ve Learned” interview to share a bit about what thoughts enter your head after you’re kicked in the nuts repeatedly.
For Knoxville to still be kicking after so many health scares and death-defying stunts is a victory. Shooting yourself out of a cannon and getting in the ring with bulls are about testing your limits and proving your resilience. But for Knoxville, Jackass only works because it’s a story about friendship.
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