Taste With Joey Maggiore: The Sicilian top chef who revolutionized Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine is popular across the globe, however, Americans have a particular fondness for it. It makes sense when you remember that a significant percentage of Americans have Italian heritage. 

If you’re a gastronome based in Phoenix, Arizona, you must have heard about the Maggiore Group. The organization is well-renowned for creating and operating high-quality, creative culinary concepts across Arizona. Founded by celebrity chef Joey Maggiore, his wife Cristina, and his father, the legendary culinary expert Tomaso Maggiore, The Maggiore Group proudly displays its Sicilian heritage at its restaurants. 

The group operates and owns multiple restaurants, including The Sicilian Baker – renowned for its cannoli bar – The Sicilian Butcher, and The Mexicano. In addition, The Maggiore Group was also responsible for The Hash Kitchen, which it sold recently to another party, an accomplishment Joey Maggiore is proud of and celebrates. The group also plans to open two new restaurants in Arizona. These include The Italiano – featuring Trattoria cocktails – and The Rosticceria – a restaurant specializing in wood-fired meats. 

Joey Maggiore has extensive experience as a chef. He discovered his passion for cooking through years of watching his father whip up intricate dishes in the cuisine. His father, Tomaso Maggiore, radiated passion and excitement, and it rubbed off on Chef Joey, prompting him to start cooking when he was 12. 

Tomaso took a keen interest in his son’s culinary education. In addition, other chefs who worked with Tomaso and held him in high regard also helped Joey become the chef he is today. He was also briefly enrolled in the Scottsdale Culinary Academy but left to open his first restaurant in Coronado, CA. 

Joey didn’t become the celebrated chef he is today overnight. It took years of practice and hard work as he dedicated himself to honing his craft. He had to understand the hard way that the culinary world is vast. In addition, cooking is an art. As a result, you can cook dishes by putting your own twist on them and making them work. It means that you could never stop learning because there was always some combination of ingredients or a different recipe that could give better results than you envisioned. Fortunately for Joey, he learned his lesson early, and it helped him progress past being a cocky young chef who thought he knew it all to become a chef that wanted to learn so he could continue to rise up the ranks and make a name for himself. 

Joey and his wife, Cristina, bring the same passion for food to the dining table at their restaurants. Whether visiting The Maggiore Group’s restaurants to try their unique build-your-own Bloody Mary bar or the create-your-own-cannoli counter, you’re in for a fantastic culinary experience. Expect your tastebuds to be transported to Italy, as The Maggiore Group helps you experience the Sicilian heritage through food. 

Running a family-owned business is always challenging, but Joey and Cristina make it work because there’s nothing more they love than serving patrons. The Maggiore Group operates scratch kitchens. It means everything is cooked and prepared completely in-house. 

In addition to helping people learn and experience Italian cuisine, The Maggiore Group does its utmost to give back to the community. The group is heavily involved with multiple children’s charities and donates regularly. It also operates an open-kitchen policy – something Joey introduced because he understands how difficult it can be for aspiring chefs and cooks to get the training and experience they need to make their aspirations come true. 

Hard work, honesty, and passion have led Joey this far, and he doesn’t plan to stop. He wants to keep building amazing brands and make his last name a household one on his quest to become the biggest and best restaurateur in the world.