Chef Carla Pellegrino

Great Italian Chefs
featuring

Chef

Executive Chef Carla Pellegrino
Chef of Rao's at Caesars Palace

Famiglia

From Caesars Palace in Las Vegas beams a shining light named Carla Pellegrino. Her creative passion for the art of cooking has taken the infamous “Rao's of New York's” menu to the next level, making “Rao's at Caesars Palace” one the best Italian restaurants in the country.

Chef Pellegrino has brought her own style and charm to the industry. Her continued dedication to her craft ensures us there will be many great recipes in the future.

Phillip J. Speciale

Chef's Bio

Carla Pellegrino, once Carla Madeira, was born in Rio de Janeiro to a Portuguese father and a second-generation Italian mother. As early as age 10, Carla was cooking daily for her family and helping run her mother's catering business, which educated her in the preparation of traditional Brazilian, Italian and Portuguese cuisine.

At age sixteen, Carla moved to Liguria, Italy, where she owned a small store where her passion for cooking inspired her to conduct cooking demonstrations daily.

In 1997, travels brought her to the United States where she met Frank Pellegrino Jr. (co-owner of Rao's restaurant in NYC). She attended the French Culinary Institute in NYC and in 2000, graduated with honors.

In May 2000, she and Frank opened and successfully established Baldoria Restaurant on 8th avenue and Broadway at the heart of NYC's theater district.

At the end of 2006, a dream became a reality and Carla lead the culinary team as the Executive Chef to open Rao’s Las Vegas. She took ten of the original recipes from the legendary East Harlem's Italian restaurant, added her own traditional North Italian cuisine and built a high volume menu concept keeping in mind quality of ingredients and consistency and at the same time translating the family style operated by Rao’s family at its ten table restaurant since 1886.

Carla has been featured on the Today Show, CBS Morning Show, Fox News National, Throwdown with Bobby Flay (which she won), Food & Wine, Bon Appetit and multiple national and local news outlets. In turn, Rao's Las Vegas is acclaimed as one of the best Italian restaurants in the country, averaging 500 covers daily.

View Chef Carla Pellegrino’s recipe for “Warm Seafood Salad”.

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Great Italian Chefsfeaturing

Executive Chef Carla PellegrinoChef of Rao's at Caesars Palace

Great Italian Chefs
featuring

Executive Chef Carla Pellegrino
Chef of Rao's at Caesars Palace