Michael Chiarello, the celebrity chef who ran renowned restaurants in San Francisco and Napa Valley, died Friday night, sources told the Chronicle. He was 61.
The cause of death could not be immediately confirmed. Former Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Chiarello died of an acute allergic reaction that led to anaphylactic shock.
Chiarello was a famed chef whose restaurants included Bottega and Ottimo, both in Napa Valley, and Coqueta, a Spanish spot with locations in Napa Valley and San Francisco’s Pier 5. A host of a Food Network cooking show, Chiarello had also been accused in lawsuits of sexually harassing his female employees, allegations he denied and settled out of court.
“His book ‘Seasons in the Wine Country’ was one of the top few books I read as a young cook that made me want to be a chef,” said chef Christopher Kostow, who took over Chiarello’s restaurant Tra Vigne in 2017 and opened Charter Oak. “He was so far ahead of others in relation to expressing seasonality. He did it before other people did it. Full stop.
“He (had) a whole other side to him, but, as it relates to his early work, especially at Tra Vigne, no one has had as much of an impact on the culinary direction of Napa Valley as he,” Kostow said. “When we took over Tra Vigne, it was a big deal in great part because of the work he had done there way back in the day. I went to that restaurant as a young person when I first got interested in food.”
Jess Lander contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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