Award-winning chef Vincent Tropepe is a celebrated culinary personality, cookbook author, speaker, restaurant consultant, small business advocate and designer. Born and raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, Vincent is a culinary school graduate of the Art Institute of New York.
As a child, Vincent always gravitated to food and cooking. His early influences include his mother, both grandmothers and his older cousin, Phyllis. He preferred spending time in the kitchen to playing sports or watching television. Prior to his formal culinary education and longing to be in the food industry, Vincent got job-shucking clams and oysters at Casa Calamari, a then-famous Brooklyn hot spot, followed by a stint at family owned Mama Tury’s.
After his graduation, where he received top honors in the culinary arts from the State of New York, Vincent’s first professional job was at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, working directly under Chef Ducasse. After mastering the art of poaching pears, (a revered dessert item on the Alain Ducasse menu), Vincent continued to work in a variety of top restaurants, expanding his knowledge of various ethnic cuisines and furthering his understanding of how to expertly use ingredients. Vincent has worked at The Rainbow Room, Chanterelle, The 21 Club, One If By Land, Two If By Sea, and famed Chinese restaurant Mr. K’s.
While making a name for himself within these acclaimed kitchens in New York, in 2002 he was asked to be the consulting chef at Madre’s of Pasadena, California (the first restaurant owned by actress/singer Jennifer Lopez). Years later, Vincent would go on to consult Tony May at SD26.
Throughout his years in the kitchen, Chef Tropepe has cooked for many celebrities including Luciano Pavarotti, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, Yankee Hall of Famers Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, Regis Philbin, Michael Jackson, Joan Rivers, Robin Williams, and four United States Presidents: George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both while in office, and Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton post-presidency. Most interestingly, Vincent has cooked aboard Air Force One a total of 14 times for Presidential domestic flights.
