The term “stoner food” might seem ambiguous (after all, isn’t all food technically stoner food?), but Giorgio Rapicavoli has elevated this particular style of cuisine to an art form unto itself. Depending on your thoughts on prenatal learning, you could make the argument that Giorgio’s culinary education started before he was even born; after all, while his mother was pregnant with him, she would watch hours upon hours of cooking shows. And after Giorgio was born, his two can’t-miss programs were “Sesame Street” and Julia Child’s shows.
At the age of 14, Giorgio convinced the manager of the restaurant where he worked as a busboy to let him work in the kitchen while still paying him busboy wages. His education continued with a short stint at Johnson & Wales’ culinary school, then in the Coral Gables, Florida restaurant scene. In 2012, Giorgio appeared on “Chopped” and, to nobody’s surprise, won the $10,000 prize. Giorgio rejected a New York Chef’s offer to move up north and work in his kitchen, choosing instead to use the prize money to start his first restaurant, Eating House.
Now, as the head chef and co-owner of Eating House and the now-closed Taperia Raca, Giorgio is working hard to fulfill his vision of taking the Miami culinary scene to new levels, starting with the aforementioned stoner food (for example, Tang mimosas and Captain Crunch pancakes with milk syrup).