Mike Colameco's Real Food

Serving Nationwide

About Mike Colameco

Mike Colameco's Real Food is one of the most popular and enduring cooking shows in the history on NYC's iconic PBS Channel 13WNET, Public Televisions' largest affiliate, content creator, tastemaker, and industry leader. In 2020 Mike Colameco's Real Food wrapped its 20th season on PBS / CREATE TV as one of the pioneers in food television programming. Since the show launched in 2000, the format has showcased the dynamic New York City restaurant scene, taking viewers behind the scenes in real-time to visit with chefs, bakers, cooks, restaurateurs, stores, artisan producers and farms alike. Shot documentary style, it is not reality TV, but a real backstage look at how some of the most influential people in today's restaurant scene are transforming the way we think about food. The program has featured, Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Gabrielle Hamilton, Dan Barber, Alice Waters, Eric Ripert, Alain Ducasse, April Bloomfield, Daniel Humm, Missy Robbins, and countless other industry tastemakers. Past episodes can be screened on Mike's YouTube Channel. PBS / CREATE TV viewers can currently watch Mike's one-minute weekly food news interstitials "The Bite" all year long.

 Mike Colameco

Mike's Bio, TV, Radio, and Print Platforms

Mike is a professionally trained chef, author, and radio and TV host. After graduating from the CIA in January '82, he worked in Manhattan at The Four Seasons Restaurant, Windows on the World (Cellar in the Sky), The Maurice, Tavern on the Green, and at the age of 31, was the Executive Chef at The Ritz-Carlton Central Park South prior to opening his own seasonal restaurant, The Globe in Cape May, NJ. Along with being the host/producer of "Mike Colameco's Real Food," he was the host/producer of "Food Talk" on WOR710AM for six years. Mike is the author of "Mike Colameco's Food Lover's Guide to New York City," published by John Wiley & Sons in 2009 and has written for "Saveur," "Edible Manhattan," "Guitar Aficionado," "Snooth," and "Edible Jersey."

Mike's hobbies include playing and collecting electric and acoustic guitars, running, open-water ocean swimming, weight lifting, bird watching, surfing, karate, boxing, listening to music, and of course traveling to food and wine destinations, dining out all over New York City, and pairing food and wine.

Employment History:

  • '71 - '78 - Worked through junior high, high school, and college, cooking in kitchens throughout the Philadelphia Metro area and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America.
  • '82 - Line cook at the Four Seasons Restaurant under Chef Seppi Renggli.
  • '82 - '83 - Sous Chef at the Maurice Restaurant under Chef Christian Delouvrier and consulting Michelin 3-star Chef Alain Senderens.
  • '84 - Restaurant Chef at the Windows on the World/Cellar in the Sky with Chefs Eberhard Muller and Hermann Reiner.
  • '85 - '86 - Executive Sous Chef/Night Chef at the Tavern on the Green with Chefs Stefan Kopf and Reto Demarmels.
  • '86 - '87 - Executive Chef at The Ritz-Carlton Central Park South.
  • '88 - '93 - Chef/owner of the Globe Restaurant in Cape May, NJ.
  • '93 - '06 - Self-employed as an import food broker for MECO Trading, representing and consulting for overseas food manufacturers and sourcing supplies for US-based importer-distributors.
  • '00 - Present - Host/producer of "Mike Colameco's Real Food," airing on public television channels 13WNET and WNJN.
  • '06 - '12 - Host of "Food Talk" on WOR Radio, airing live six days a week via WOR and 64 other nationally affiliated network stations.
  • '13 - '15 - Host/producer of "Mike Colameco's Food Talk" on the Heritage Radio Network.