Biography of Luke Palladino

Luke’s journey into the kitchen began when he was a child growing up in an Italian-American family that spent hours around the dinner table, sharing lives and favorite dishes from their homeland.

This exposure to the joy that comes from great meals was the motivation behind Luke’s decision to go to the Culinary Institute of America. He graduated in 1989, and was voted “the most likely to succeed” by his classmates, and spent three years living and cooking in Italy.

Luke immersed himself in the culture of Italy’s varied regions, doing time in restaurants in various regions, including Rome, Piemonte, Puglia, Friuli, Sicily and Tuscany. He became executive chef and partner at Venice’s internationally celebrated Ristorante al Covo and aligned himself with The Slow Food Movement, an organization dedicated to combating the culture of fast food by preserving and passing down age-old culinary practices.

In the U.S., Luke has worked with some of the country’s best chefs — Paul Bertolli, Jeremiah Tower, Emeril Lagasse and Todd English — and became executive chef at English’s Onda Ristorante at the Mirage in Las Vegas. He later opened the Aspen outpost of English’s Olives as chef de cuisine. Bob Boughner, CEO of Borgata, hand-picked Luke to open three restaurants at the hotel casino.

At each of his restaurants Luke dedicates himself to creating food that satiates the senses with intoxicating aromas, profound flavors, and artful presentations.