Sirio Maccioni To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

Sirio Maccioni, an Italian-born NYC-based restaurateur responsible for such successes as Le Cirque in Manhattan, has been named as the recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award. According to a press release from JBF, the award is given annually to the one individual in the industry whose lifetime body of work has had a positive and indelible impact on American cuisine. Past recipients include such notable luminaries as Wolfgang Puck, Jacques Pepin, Kevin Zraly and Alice Waters.

Maccioni was born in Italy and trained in Paris and Hamburg before relocating to New York City and beginning his career at Delmonico’s. From there he climbed the industry ladder until he was able to open his own restaurant, Le Cirque, at the Mayfair Hotel. Le Cirque is notable for being the first privately owned restaurant to be located in a hotel. Le Cirque was eventually relocated to its current home at One Beacon Court, with a brief stopover at the New York Palace Hotel, and iterations were opened in Las Vegas, the Dominican Republic, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Students attending a cooking school online should look toward prominent chefs like Sirio Maccioni for inspiration.