Gabriele Bertaccini was born on December 16, 1985, in Florence, Italy. He grew up in a Florentine family with a strong love of food, and he discovered his passion for cooking as a young boy. He enrolled in a five-year culinary program at Florence’s prestigious Instituto Professionale Buontalenti, graduating with a focus on Tuscan regional cuisine and food and beverage management.
He spent his childhood in the Tuscan countryside of the Arno River valley, surrounded by olive groves and cypress trees. This rustic setting later became a central influence on his approach to cooking. By age 13 he was gaining practical kitchen experience – he worked as a dishwasher in a local restaurant.
Gabriele Bertaccini began his culinary training in his native Florence, Italy. He completed a five-year program at the Buontalenti culinary institute in Florence, graduating with a specialization in Tuscan cuisine and additional training in food and beverage management. In his early career he worked at several notable Italian establishments, including Ristorante Sabatini and the Grand Hotel Baglioni, and eventually became head chef at the boutique farm-to-table restaurant Coquinarius in Tuscany, where under his leadership the kitchen earned praise from publications such as Gambero Rosso. He later broadened his skills in Paris under Chef Delage.
Gabriele Bertaccini Early career | Net Worth (2025 Estimate) | USD $1 million – $2 million |
| Primary Income Sources | Chef career, luxury catering events, TV hosting |
| Business Ventures | Private catering and dining experiences |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Other Earnings Factors | Media appearances and culinary projects |
After moving to the United States, Bertaccini studied journalism and public relations at Arizona State University. In 2008 he founded his first catering company, iL Tocco Food, which specialized in multi-course, authentic Italian dining events. iL Tocco quickly gained acclaim as a top-tier event company, it was named one of the country’s “best dining event companies” and expanded to major cities including London, San Francisco, Phoenix and even Florence. Bertaccini also launched Culinary Mischief, an invitation-only underground supper-club series, before rebranding his ventures under Gabriele Bertaccini Experiences, a global event company.
In 2016 he opened The Chef’s Den in Los Angeles, an exclusive chef’s-table concept featuring an ever-changing menu and a single communal dining table. This private-dining adventure became highly sought-after; Food & Wine and Scottsdale Luxury Magazine named it one of the nation’s “Top 5 Over-The-Top Dining Experiences” soon after it opened. Over the years Bertaccini has also consulted for restaurants, served as a food editor for culinary publications, and split his time between Los Angeles and Phoenix running his event companies.
Bertaccini’s work has earned significant recognition in the culinary world. He has cooked for many high-profile clients, from former President Bill Clinton to Oprah Winfrey and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, during private events. In 2016 he became the first Arizona-based chef without a bricks-and-mortar restaurant to be invited to the James Beard Foundation’s Taste of America dinner, a prestigious honor in the industry. He also received the Phoenix Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” award for young leaders in business. In media publications his companies have been featured in Food & Wine, Gambero Rosso, and other outlets, reflecting the impact of his culinary enterprises. On television, Bertaccini has appeared on cooking competitions as a contestant and judge, including Alex vs. America, Beat Bobby Flay, and multiple episodes of Chopped, showcasing his expertise in Italian cuisine to a broader audience.
In recent years Bertaccini has moved into TV hosting. In 2020 he became one of the three expert hosts of Netflix’s wedding makeover series Say I Do (alongside Jeremiah Brent and Thai Nguyen), helping design and cater surprise dream weddings for diverse couples. He continued his television career on Food Network in 2023 by co-hosting the Italian-themed competition Ciao House; official Food Network sources describe Ciao House as a series “hosted by ... Alex Guarnaschelli and Tuscan-born Chef Gabriele Bertaccini,” where ten chefs live together in Tuscany and compete in Italian culinary challenges. In 2025 Bertaccini served as a mentor and co-host on Season 29 of Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America: Talented & Terrible, teaming with Anne Burrell to train novice cooks. That same year he announced plans to open his first Los Angeles–based restaurant (scheduled for 2023), promising a focus on Tuscan cuisine and open-fire cooking.
As of 2025, reports from online outlets estimate Gabriele Bertaccini’s net worth to be between US $1 million and $2 million, though major financial publications have not verified this figure. He generates income through his career as a chef and television personality, including founding a catering business and producing high end dining events, as well as hosting and judging roles on shows like Say I Do and Ciao House.