Stephen Asprinio (born in

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous count ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

) is an American

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

sommelier A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in f ...

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a k ...

, and former ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional che ...

'' contestant.

Biography

Asprinio studied at the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs ...

. He continued his education after culinary school and earned his bachelor's degree from the

Cornell University School of Hotel Administration The Nolan School of Hotel Administration (SHA, more commonly known as the Hotel School) at Cornell University is a specialized business school in the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, a private university, private Ivy League un ...

. He also studied and trained at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyards. Asprinio appeared on

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show ''

'' on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compan ...

during its first season and was one of the final five contestants when he was eliminated from the competition. Asprinio also competed as a contestant on '' Top Chef: All Stars'' in 2010, but he was eliminated in the third episode. Asprinio is best known as the "villain" of Top Chef's first season; ABC named him one of "Reality TV's Top 15 Meanest Villains." One of the starkest examples of this "villain" behaviour was Asprinio's ongoing verbal treatment of another contestant, Candice Kumai, whom he allegedly called "trash." At the age of 26, Stephen Asprinio opened his first and namesake restaurant, ''Forté di Asprinio'' in South Florida, which was named "One of the Top 10 Best New Restaurants in the United States" by the Gayot Restaurant Guide. However, he left soon after its opening; the restaurant changed course and dropped “di Asprinio” from the name. Asprinio currently resides in New York City, where his hospitality firm, S.A. Hospitality Innovations, is based.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asprinio, Stephen Living people Top Chef contestants People from Palm Beach County, Florida Cornell University School of Hotel Administration alumni Culinary Institute of America alumni Year of birth missing (living people)