Leia Gaccione
Leia Gaccione's star has been rising in the food world for the past fifteen years, and she's not stopping anytime soon. A powerhouse of a chef and restaurateur with two of her own restaurants, Leia has worked her way through the restaurant industry. A graduate of the New York Restaurant School, Leia has worked in some of NYC's toughest kitchens. She worked as Executive Chef and Chef de Cuisine during a seven-year career in Bobby Flay's restaurant empire, cooking her way through five of the restaurants in his fine-dining portfolio. She now owns two hot New Jersey restaurants, south+pine and CENTRAL+MAIN, where she serves new American food that warms the belly and the soul.
With her years in the restaurant industry and experience on many sides of the spectrum in the kitchen hierarchy, Leia brings remarkable knowledge and empathy to Her Name is Chef. Throughout the series, she interviews her fellow women chefs and they dish on everything from their favorite ingredients to sharing experiences working in a male-dominated and high-stress environment.