Meet Michael Pirolo | Executive Chef / Owner of Macchialina

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Pirolo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I learned a long time ago to follow my gut. When I do that, I usually don’t regret it. I had a stable career working for a large restaurant group. I could have easily stayed there, but I ultimately knew that wouldn’t make me happy. Deciding to leave that position and open my own restaurant was a huge risk. The first several years there were times I even wondered if I had made a mistake, but ultimately opening Macchialina turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think we take an authentic approach to everything we do. Whether it’s coming up with new flavor combinations or reinventing old classics we always come at it from an honest and passionate approach. I am most proud of what Macchialina started at in its inception and how it’s evolved over the 8 years we have been open. How did I get to where I am today? A lot of hard work. The biggest challenge I overcame early on were my initial in-experiences. I quickly realized the harder I worked and the more I dedicated myself to the craft, the easier it became. I want people to know that at Macchialina, we all genuinely love what we do. We enjoy this industry, we are a passionate family who has fun. We thrive when brainstorm new events and immerse ourselves into our community.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
You easily need more than a week – but here is a list of my favorite things around my city. Restaurants: Taquiza for the best tacos Cafe La Trova for chef Michelle Bernstein’s arroz con pollo KYU for hands down some of the best food in Miami Stanzione 87 for my favorite Marinara pizza Sweet Liberty & Le Sirenuse for cocktails Spend as much time as possible on the beach!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are countless people from present day and in the past that have to contributed to both the success of myself and the restaurant. Starting with Felix and Francisco Fernandez, who have worked with me for 12 years. They are the backbone of the Macchialina kitchen. Francisco is our pasta maker and Felix runs all of our AM production to ensure our night crew is ready for service. I can’t not mention Sal Cisnero, who started as a line cook and has now been promoted to sous chef and is one of the most dependable, hard working people I have ever met. Last but certainly not least, a big shout out to John Kreidich my chef de cuisine; who helps carry out Macchialina’s vision daily.

Website: www.macchialina.com
Instagram: @macchialina

Image Credits
headshot of Michael Pirolo cooking with the run dmc shirt on – @lizclayman all other photos – @delguidicephoto