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Meet
the Chef
Christianne Ricchi, Chef and Owner
Christianne
R. Ricchi, past Chairman of the Distinguished Restaurants of North America is
Owner and Executive Chef of Ristorante i Ricchi, Washington D.C. She
continues to develop related investments in the food and beverage industry as
Executive President of Products Italia Marketing and Management Company and
through her management of both Mid-Atlantic Wholesale Distributors, Inc. and the
franchise development company, i Ricchi International.
Born
in New York, Ricchi received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1973 from the College of
New Rochelle and the Universita Internazionale D'Arte of Florence, Italy, where
she remained to continue her studies in the visual as well as culinary arts.
After eighteen years of participating in the Trattoria i Ricchi outside of
Florence, she continued the tradition by opening Ristorante i Ricchi in
Washington, D.C. in 1989.
Ms.
Ricchi received the “Insegna Del Ristorante Italiano” from the President of
Italy, Luigi Scalfaro, for establishing one of the best Italian restaurants in
the world outside of Italy. She is also the recipient of the Piero Bargellini
Award of Excellence, given by the city of Florence for her accomplishments in
the revitalization and advancement of Italian culture in the United States. She
was recently named a “Woman Power Player” by Nation's Restaurant News and
“2002 Hospitality Ambassador of Washington, D.C.” by the Metropolitan
Restaurant Association and the Washington Post.
In
addition to her management activities, Ms. Ricchi has served on both the Board
of Directors of the National Restaurant Association as well as on the Board of
its Educational Foundation. She has most recently been active as a spokesperson
for the Association on Capitol Hill, having given statements on behalf of the
restaurant industry at numerous Congressional committees and at the White House.
She is also on the
Board of Directors of the Riverview School, a secondary school for learning
disabled adolescents in East Sandwich, Massachusetts, and that of the College
of New Rochelle. A member of the Distinguished Restaurants of North America
Board of Directors since 1992, she was Chairman of the 1993 annual conference
in Washington D.C. She then served as both Secretary and Vice-Chair before
becoming Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 1998.
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Ristorante
i Ricchi
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