Giada De Laurentiis

Giada Pamela De Laurentiis  ,born August 22, 1970) is an Italian American chef, writer, television personality, and the host of the current Food Network program Giada at Home. She also appears regularly as a contributor and guest co-host on NBC's Today. De Laurentiis is the founder of the catering business GDL Foods.

Personal life

Giada Pamela De Laurentiis was born in Rome, Italy, the eldest child of actress Veronica De Laurentiis and her first husband, actor-producer Alex De Benedetti; De Benedetti was a close associate of Giada's grandfather, the film producer Dino De Laurentiis. Her parents were married in February 1970 but were later divorced. After their parents' divorce, Giada and her siblings moved to Southern California where they took their mother's surname.

Her grandparents are producer Dino De Laurentiis and Italian film star Silvana Mangano. Her siblings include sister Eloisa, a makeup artist, and brothers Dino Alexander, a Hollywood film editor, and Igor. Her stepfather is producer Ivan Kavalsky.

De Laurentiis graduated from Marymount High School in Los Angeles and holds a bachelor's degree in social anthropology from UCLA (1996).

On May 25, 2003, she married Todd Thompson, a fashion designer for Anthropologie. The two had been dating since July 1989. The couple's first child, Jade Marie De Laurentiis Thompson, was born on March 29, 2008.

De Laurentiis, dubbed as "a petite powerhouse" by Town & Country magazine, stands "just under five foot two."

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 the Food Network after styling a piece in Food & Wine Magazine in 2002.

Her cooking program, Everyday Italian, has been broadcast on the 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, the Food Network received mail accusing the network of hiring a model or actress pretending to cook instead of a real chef.

De Laurentiis began hosting Behind the Bash in October 2006. The program examines the catering process behind big event extravaganzas such as the Grammy Awards. In January 2007, a third De Laurentiis-hosted show, Giada's Weekend Getaways, debuted on Food Network. On this show, De Laurentiis travels to a featured locale (such as Seattle, South Beach, San Francisco, Napa, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming) and visits her favorite local culinary destinations.

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.

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. In 2008, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle Host.

De Laurentiis is a spokesperson for the pasta manufacturer Barilla.

In early 2010, she came out with a line of kitchen supplies, exclusively for Target Corporation.

In 2010, CafeMom ranked her as #6 in their yearly "Sexiest Moms Alive" list.

She is also the voice of "Paulette", a character on the animated children's show Handy Manny.

In June, 2010 De Laurentiis became a regularly appearing mentor to the finalists on the popular Food Network competition show The Next Food Network Star.

Publications

In 2005, De Laurentiis published her first cookbook, Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes, which was followed by Giada's Family Dinners, released April 4, 2006; Everyday Pasta, released April 3, 2007; Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites, released September 30, 2008; and Giada at Home: Family Recipes from Italy and California, released March 30, 2010.

Products

Giada De Laurentiis has a range of products made only for Target. Her products consist of stainless steel pots and pans, a wide range of utensils and cooking tools and stainless steel counter-top appliances such as a Panini Press, Coffee Maker and Food Processor.

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(source:wikipedia)