Biography
Giada Pamela De Laurentiis was born August 22, 1970, in Rome, Italy. She is the daughter of Veronica De Laurentiis and Alex De Benedetti, and granddaughter of film producer Dino De Laurentiis and Silvana Mangano, a noted Italian actress from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
At age 7, Giada De Laurentiis and her parents moved to Southern California where she attended Marymount High School and later graduated from UCLA with a degree in social anthropology. Academic life, however, was not for Giada. She enlisted in Paris’ prestigious Le Cordon Bleu school and specialized in pastry and cuisine. After graduating, she returned to Los Angeles to work in some of that city’s best restaurants, among them Wolfgang Puck’s Spago and the Ritz Carlton Dining Room.
giada de laurentiis on the food network
In 2001, Giada De Laurentiis got her big break. She was working as a food stylist and styled a piece for Food and Wine magazine when the Food Network came calling. In 2003, Everyday Italian first aired on the network and featured Giada cooking classic Italian dishes in a straightforward, simple manner, using only the best ingredients. And though the dishes themselves were technically perfect, Giada De Laurentiis’ stiff delivery left a bitter taste in some critics’ mouths. Ironically, some accused Food Network producers of hiring a model or an actress who was pretending to cook, rather than a real chef.
In 2003, Giada De Laurentiis married her long-time sweetheart, fashion designer Todd Thompson, a clothing designer with the Anthropolgie company. The two had been dating since 1991.
giada de laurentiis on behind the bash
Undaunted, the network ordered a second season of Everyday Italian and Giada De Laurentiis’ stock began to climb. In 2005, the Food Network introduced Giada in a new format -- Behind the Bash -- where she took viewers behind the scenes of some of the biggest weddings and events in the U.S. to witness the catering process firsthand. The following year, she appeared on a special episode of Iron Chef America in which she and Bobby Flay competed against -- and lost to -- Rachael Ray and Mario Batali. The 90-minute episode was a roaring success for the Food Network. It scored the highest ratings the network had ever received in the 18- to 35-year-old bracket.
Career
De Laurentiis, a self-proclaimed chocoholic, studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France with aspirations of becoming a pastry chef. After returning to the United States, she became a professional chef working in several Los Angeles restaurants, notably the Wolfgang Puck-owned Spago. She later worked as a food stylist, and was contacted by Food Network after styling a piece in Food & Wine Magazine in 2002.
Her cooking program, Everyday Italian, has been broadcast on Food Network since 2003. On her Chefography (a Food Network biography program), she admitted that she never wanted to be in her "family business" of show business. She felt very uncomfortable in front of the camera when she first began hosting Everyday Italian, but has since become more relaxed and open on air. When the program first aired, Food Network received emails accusing the network of hiring a model or actress pretending to cook instead of a real chef.
On a November 2006 episode of Iron Chef America, De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay competed against, and were defeated by, Rachael Ray and Mario Batali.
Giada looks confused. Sitting on a yellow surfboard with a paddle across her legs. swimsuit, ocean
In 2007, De Laurentiis appeared as a presenter on the inaugural Food Network Awards. In June 2007, she hosted a two-part Food Network special entitled Giada in Paradise, featuring the two locales of Santorini, Greece and Capri, Italy. De Laurentiis also made several appearances as a guest judge on the third season of The Next Food Network Star, which aired in 2007. Beginning in 2008, De Laurentiis will star in a new Food Network program entitled Giada at Home.
Giada De Laurentiis - 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Florida - with white sunglasses, hoop earrings, layed necklace (pregnant)
De Laurentiis is a spokesperson for the pasta manufacturer Barilla.
giada de laurentiis in paradise
In January 2007, Giada De Laurentiis packed her bags and headed out for some Weekend Getaways, a new show in which she tours cities across the United States, visits some of the tourist sites and enjoys some of the best local fare. Since then, she has gone on to appear on the inaugural Food Network Awards and in a two-part special Giada in Paradise.
Giada De Laurentiis is also the author of cookbooks -- Everyday Italian, Giada's Family Dinners (which became a New York Times No. 1 bestseller) and Everyday Pasta -- as well as the founder of GDL Foods, a Los Angeles-based catering company, and a spokesperson for Barilla Pasta, the world’s largest manufacturer and producer of pasta, and Pyrex Glassware.
There's no denying Giada De Laurentiis ginormous sex appeal -- we believe it has something to do with how well she handles food and all those kitchen appliances -- and her spot on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008 as the only cook is well-deserved.
Giada De Laurentiis in a Bikini
Giada De Laurentiis...Nice Carrots!
