BIOGRAPHY

The title "Culinary Professional" fits Chef Tony to a tee. Throughout his life, he has gained the hands-on experience to earn this distinction.

Born to first-generation Italian-Americans in Brooklyn, Chef Tony grew up helping out at his grandmother's Southern Italian restaurant in lower Manhattan while his father sold fresh produce from a horse and wagon and his mother ran a home-based Italian catering business. "Every weekend was like a catered affair at our house," Chef Tony recalls, "where all of the family gathered on Saturday to prepare a Sunday meal fit for a king."

From the age of 12, Tony helped his mother prepare these sumptuous meals, paying close attention to every detail of her artistic approach to cooking. At 16, Tony began developing his own culinary creativity after school in a neighborhood pizzeria. Two years later, he became an assistant to a salesman demonstrating kitchen products in a local Brooklyn store. While gaining first-hand knowledge in the field of direct sales, Tony continued to expand his horizons in food preparation."Through the combination of studying cookbooks, experimenting with new recipes and watching Julia Child and the Galloping Gourment on TV, I received a priceless, well-rounded education," Chef Tony admits.

Soon, Chef Tony began demonstrating the Popeil Dial-O-Matic throughout New York City. During this time, he came up with the idea of handing out his own recipes while making sales pitches. This opened the door to being chosen as the first person to demonstrate T-Fal cookware in America. And the rest of Chef Tony's career has become direct-retail history.

Chef Tony Notaro

While any good host can

present "the pitch"

Chef Tony delivers

the passion.

A Few of Chef Tony's Success Stories...