JOEY CAMPANARO
Joey Campanaro was raised in an Italian-American household in Philadelphia where the food of his childhood inspired him to make cooking his vocation. With a culinary approach firmly rooted in his Italian grandmother’s kitchen and honed in a range of America’s top restaurants, Joey brings a lifelong affinity for Mediterranean cuisine to every dish he creates at The Little Owl.
It was in a markedly different kitchen where Joey first got a taste of the restaurant world. As a dishwasher at a seasonal restaurant on the Jersey Shore, he was instantly hooked by the fraternal, energetic nature of restaurant life. Several years later, while majoring in restaurant management at Penn State, he spent an inspiring semester in Italy, studying early Etruscan architecture and culture and exploring the bounty of the country’s simple and deeply satisfying food. A few years later Joey traveled to France, where he studied winemaking and further developed his skills with Mediterranean cuisine.
When he returned to the U.S., Joey knew he wanted to cook, and did so by featuring the pure, uncomplicated flavors he’d learned to use while in Europe. His pursuit took him to restaurants in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York, where he worked alongside esteemed chefs Neil Murphy, Joachim Splichal, Jimmy Bradley and Jonathan Waxman. While in Los Angeles, Joey was also chef de cuisine of Universal Studio’s Executive Dining Room and the proprietor of his own Hollywood-based catering company.
In 2001, restaurateurs Jimmy Bradley and Danny Abrams asked Joey to move back to New York and join them in opening The Harrison. As executive chef, Joey’s devotion to the kitchen won the hearts of New York diners and, in December 2001, a two-star review from The New York Times. After a three-year stint maintaining the Harrison’s success, Joey became the Executive Chef of another restaurant from Jimmy Bradley and Danny Abrams – Pace – an Italian restaurant in Tribeca. Following Pace, Joey re-opened his catering business with his new business partner, Gabriel Stulman, and set out to open the restaurant he always dreamed of opening – The Little Owl.
At The Little Owl, Joey is cooking the food he loves, focusing on the freshest seasonal ingredients combined with the bold, rich flavors of the Mediterranean and a few tricks he learned from his grandmother. This intimate, 28 seat stage is a far cry from the larger restaurant kitchens Joey’s helmed thus far, and he enjoys one-on-one interaction with his guests as he cooks for them. Joey’s genuinely friendly nature and refined-yet-accessible culinary technique instantly make The Little Owl a place where guests are able to enjoy good food, good people and good times.
Since its opening, The Little Owl has received overwhelming acclaim from critics and the public alike. Joey and the restaurant have been featured in such media outlets as Food Network’s Iron Chef America, the Martha Stewart Show, NBC’s Today Show, the CBS Early Show, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Esquire, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Out NY, InStyle, Paper Magazine, DailyCandy and The New York Post.
