Rising Star Chef Paul Piscopo of Trace at the W San Francisco Hotel - Biography

2005 San Francisco Rising Star Chef Paul Piscopo is a native of Westchester, New York. He was raised in an Italian-American family and was inspired early on by his grandmother’s cooking. She welcomed him into the kitchen, and thus an interest in the culinary arts came naturally to Paul.

Piscopo attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and after graduating, launched his professional career in the Bay Area by working at Aqua in San Francisco. He moved on to Oliveto Restaurant in Oakland before teaming up with Chef Ron Siegel, both at Charles Nob Hill and then at Masa’s where Piscopo was the Sous Chef. Siegel subsequently entrusted Piscopo with opening a restaurant in Tokyo modeled after Charles Nob Hill.

In February 2003, Piscopo accepted a position at XYZ as Executive Sous Chef, and soon replaced Malachi Harland as Executive Chef. His menu featured Modern Californian cuisine with French Provencal and Italian influences, utilizing seasonally fresh local ingredients. In addition to his XYZ menu, Piscopo created exciting offerings for the chic W Café and the W San Francisco Hotel’s In Room Dining. In 2011, the W San Francisco unveiled its new restaurant, Trace, which fuses Bay Area produce with social responsability. Piscopo is currently the Executive Chef of Trace.