Gabriele Corcos was born in 1972 in Fiesole, a town in the Tuscan hills near Florence. He was raised amid the olive groves and vineyards of Tuscany, learning the region’s cooking traditions from his family. He lived on a family farmhouse where his grandmother regularly prepared meals for farm workers and visitors. His mother and grandmother taught him traditional Tuscan recipes and farmers’ cuisine from a young age.
Corcos completed his secondary education in Italy and briefly joined the Italian Army medical corps after high school. He nurtured a passion for music early on: he later recalled spending his youth dreaming of a career as a musician, and as a teenager he played drums and percussion in several local bands. He has described his upbringing on the Tuscan family farm as one where “the stove was always lit,” reflecting the central role of home cooking in his childhood.
| Category | Verified Details |
| Full Name | Gabriele Corcos |
| Birth Year & Place | Born in 1972 in Fiesole, Tuscany, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Profession | Chef, entrepreneur, television personality |
| Net Worth (2026) | Not publicly disclosed; no verified estimate available from reliable financial sources |
| Main Income Sources | Television hosting (Extra Virgin), cookbook sales, restaurant ventures, digital media projects |
| Famous TV Show | Creator and co-host of Extra Virgin on Cooking Channel (2011–2015) |
| Bestselling Book | Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen (New York Times bestseller, 2014) |
| Awards & Honors | James Beard Award (2016); Knight of the Order of Merit of Italy (2019) |
| Current Work (2026) | Developing a Tuscan agritourism project and continuing media work (podcasts, events, collaborations) |
Gabriele Corcos has built a remarkable career blending authentic Tuscan heritage with modern culinary storytelling. From his early roots in the hills of Fiesole to becoming the award-winning co-creator of Extra Virgin, Gabriele Corcos is an Italian chef, entrepreneur, and television personality known for blending authentic Tuscan cuisine with modern media. He gained national recognition as the creator, host, and producer of Extra Virgin(Cooking Channel), a cooking series co-starring his wife, actress Debi Mazar.
Corcos is also the co-author of Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen(2014), a cookbook based on the show that became a New York Times bestseller. Over the years he has built a reputation as both a culinary ambassador of Tuscany and an innovative food-media entrepreneur, earning industry awards and honors.
Corcos grew up cooking in Tuscany and later moved to the United States. He honed his culinary skills in professional kitchens, including working under chef Gino Angelini in California.
In 2012 he served as the executive chef at the prestigious Montauk Yacht Club in New York. His public career began to take off after he and Debi Mazar started a cooking video series in 2006 called Under the Tuscan Gun, sharing recipes and Tuscan food culture online.
That web series built an audience and attracted the attention of television producers. In 2011, Corcos and Mazar were tapped to launch Extra Virgin, the Cooking Channel’s first original series. This opportunity marked the start of his national television career and established him as a familiar on-air figure.
Extra Virginpremiered in 2011 with Corcos as co-host and co-producer alongside Mazar. Filmed partly in their kitchen, the show showcased rustic Italian cooking, family-style meals, and regional Tuscany traditions.
Over five seasons (2011–2015) the series explored Italian cuisine across America and Italy, introducing traditional recipes to a broad audience. The show’s success was recognized with a 2016 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award for Television Program, highlighting its quality and impact.
In 2016 Corcos and Mazar also starred in Extra Virgin Americana, a follow-up series of travel-and-cooking episodes in the US. Extra Virgineffectively launched Corcos’s media career: it increased his public profile, led directly to his bestselling cookbook, and positioned him as one of the Cooking Channel’s signature personalities. The show aired internationally on Food Network, further extending his reach.
Building on the television series, Corcos and Mazar co-authored Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Tuscan Kitchenin 2014. The cookbook collected favorite recipes and stories from the show, blending authentic Tuscan dishes with family anecdotes.
It became a New York Times bestseller shortly after publication, affirming its popularity. The couple released a second cookbook, Super Tuscan: Heritage Recipes and Simple Pleasures from Our Kitchen to Your Table, in 2017, which continued the theme of classic Tuscan home cooking.
Both books received praise for their accessibility and charm. Corcos’s expertise in simple, ingredient-driven recipes has also led to guest appearances at culinary festivals and food events. He has demonstrated his recipes at Food Network’s New York City and South Beach Wine & Food Festivals since 2011, sharing his Tuscan cooking style on live stages.
Gabriele Corcos brings the heart of Tuscan cooking to life through his bestselling cookbooks, blending authentic family recipes with simple, ingredient-driven techniques that celebrate tradition, flavor, and everyday e Beyond television and publishing, Corcos has undertaken several entrepreneurial ventures. In 2015 he opened The Tuscan Gun Officine Alimentari, a cafe and shop in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of Brooklyn.
This 15-seat eatery, which Corcos described as “our dining room,” served breakfast and lunch and offered ready-made Tuscan dishes, reflecting his goal of becoming part of the community’s daily life. “We really want to become part of people’s lives, not a destination where people come once every other month,” he explained of the concept.
(In practice, the cafe maintained an open kitchen and a small market counter with sauces, pastas, and salads.) The Tuscan Gun combined retail and restaurant service, with Corcos hosting cooking classes and pop-up dinners in the evenings. Corcos eventually closed the Brooklyn shop after several years, choosing to focus on a new project.
Corcos has also explored the intersection of food and technology. In 2018 he created the online series Counter Talk Liveand launched the podcast Future Bites, both focused on food innovation and sustainability.
These digital media projects earned him a Virtual Reality Broadcast Award at the 2018 CES technology show and speaking invitations at events like SXSW. Through them, he experimented with immersive content (including a 360-degree virtual tour of The Tuscan Gun) and discussed emerging trends in the kitchen. Corcos’s entrepreneurial portfolio thus spans traditional food businesses to cutting-edge media endeavors.
- 2014:Extra Virgincookbook debuts on the New York Times bestseller list shortly after its June release.
- 2016:Wins the James Beard Foundation Award for Television Program, Studio or Fixed Location, recognizing Extra Virginas an outstanding cooking show.
- 2019:Honored as a Knight (Cavaliere) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the President of Italy, one of the nation’s highest honors, for promoting Italian culture and heritage abroad.
- Multiple:Frequently featured at food festivals and in culinary media; served on the advisory council of the Food Bank For New York City, reflecting his commitment to community nutrition.
In recent years Corcos has shifted his base of operations back to Italy while maintaining a media presence. In 2021 he and Mazar relocated to Fiesole, Tuscany (his childhood home area), and announced plans to develop a food-centered hotel and agritourism project on his family’s land.
He explained that after closing his restaurant in New York, he decided to focus on a rural venture: “To truly understand the real Tuscan way of life, [guests] have to come live with me,” he noted. Accordingly, Corcos has pursued a property with an organic farm in Tuscany to establish this project.
In parallel, he continues to engage audiences online. He remains active on social media and periodically appears in cooking demonstrations and interviews.
His Future Bitespodcast explores sustainable food and has featured experts on topics like climate-smart agriculture. Throughout 2021–2025, Corcos also participated in international food and technology conferences, sharing his vision of modernizing traditional farming practices with new tech.
Today Gabriele Corcos balances his roles as an educator of Tuscan cooking, a New York Times bestselling author, and a food-tech innovator. He continues to collaborate with chefs, networks, and brands, and he leverages his diverse experience to expand Tuscan cuisine’s reach.
In all his work from television and books to restaurants and podcasts Corcos emphasizes authenticity and community connection, fulfilling his long-held goal of sharing “cucina povera,” the humble, nourishing cooking of rural Italy, with the world.
As of 2026, Gabriele Corcos’s net worth has not been publicly disclosed, and no figures have been officially verified by major financial authorities. His known income sources include earnings from his work as a chef and television host most notably as the creator and host of the Cooking Channel series Extra Virginas well as from publishing, including the cookbook Extra Virgin, which became a New York Timesbestseller.
He has also co-founded a catering business and operated a Brooklyn-based restaurant, The Tuscan Gun, with his wife. However, the exact earnings from these ventures have not been publicly reported.
Gabriele Corcos is best known as the co-host and creator of the Cooking Channel series Extra Virgin. He is also recognized for promoting traditional Tuscan cuisine through television, books, and live events.
Yes, Gabriele Corcos is a professional chef with experience in both home-style and restaurant kitchens. He has also worked under established chefs and led culinary operations in the United States.
His income primarily comes from television work, cookbook publishing, and food-related business ventures. He has also earned through events, collaborations, and digital media projects.
Yes, he received a James Beard Foundation Award in 2016 for Extra Virgin. He was also honored as a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2019.
As of recent updates, he is based in Tuscany, Italy. He relocated there to focus on a food and agritourism project connected to his family roots.