Franco Fugel, a born and raised New Yorker, discovered his love for food and entrepreneurship early on, from competing on Chopped: Teen Tournament at age fourteen to founding a gelato business, “Franco Gelato,” at age eleven. He is most inspired by Italian-French cuisine, stemming from his Italian heritage and memories of sampling the diverse New York City restaurant scene. This passion has led him to pursue work in Michelin-starred restaurants such as The NoMad, Ai Fiori, and Per Se, all of which have only furthered and reinforced his love for cooking, restaurant operations and leadership.

Franco has had vast experience working at such high caliber restaurants, starting as a commis at NoMad and working his way up to Chef de Partie, all while still in high school. Franco would move on to working at Chef Michael White’s Ai Fiori, celebrated for its elegant fish and pasta dishes, where he quickly moved from garde manger up to entremetier and then to fish roast- a station that Franco says was the most challenging and demanding yet truly educational in his career thus far. These work experiences and an unwavering commitment to professionalism, grace and focus led to his appointment as the Commis Chef for the United States at the 2023 world-renound Bocuse d’Or competition to take place in Lyon, France. A graduate of both the Culinary Institute of America and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Franco holds both a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Business and a Master’s of Science in Management. During his time in school, Franco furthered his love for all subjects revolving around food, wine, and business.

Franco is the recipient of the Christian Wölffer Scholarship by the James Beard Foundation in 2018, as well as the Culinary Institute of America’s prestigious Founder’s Management Award and Jacob Rosenthal Award for Leadership. Looking for another way to share his passion, Franco hosted a pop-up dinner series called “Vittorio’s.” Franco wanted to be able to showcase classic Italian American food and to build the hallmark ambiance to go with the food, being as warm, fun and inviting as Sunday dinner at Nonna’s house. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Franco co-founded a magazine of interviews and recipes from food and beverage industry professionals, aptly named “For the Table”. Furthermore, Franco earned his Level 1 Certification in Wines from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust of London. Most recently, Franco, along with Chefs Jeffrey Hayashi and Robert Sulatycky, won the Gold Medal for the Bocuse d’Or Americas 2022 held in Santiago, Chile. In the free time he has, you can find Franco playing a round of golf, exploring local farmer’s markets or at Ad Hoc in Yountville, California on fried chicken night (his favorite).

Franco is always searching for new projects to be a part of. He is available for foodservice consulting, media appearances and other opportunities.

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What I can do…

-General restaurant consulting
-Financial Management
-Planning, including kitchen, dining room and overall layout
-Team selection and onboarding
-Menu and Recipe development
-FOH/BOH Manuals
-ROI figures/Pitchdecks/Investor Materials
-Business Plan writing/review
-M&A Calculations/evaluation
-Seed round/Round A stability evaluation
-Landlord/tenant contract evaluation
-Business Plan evaluation
-Evaluation and review of food products
-Photography/videography of food products
-Recipe writing within brand parameters
-Recipe development for specific brands of products
-Strategy for fine dining, fast casual or fast food integration of products