Marc Vetri, food entrepreneur and chef/founder of Philadelphia’s critically acclaimed Vetri Family of Restaurants, is a 1998 graduate of ICC’s Art of International Bread Baking Program and a 2005 Outstanding Alumni Award winner.
A Philadelphia native, Marc initially pursued a career in music as a guitarist before realizing his true passion came from cooking. Spending his formative professional kitchen life in Bergamo, Italy, Marc has become known the world over for bringing a bold, contemporary sensibility to classic Italian cooking. In 1998, he and business partner, Jeff Benjamin, opened the eponymous fine-dining restaurant Vetri, which propelled Marc to the culinary forefront. Within two years of the restaurant’s debut, he was named one of Food & Wine‘s “Best New Chefs” and received the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s highest restaurant rating.
Following Vetri, Marc launched Osteria in 2007. Larger and more casual than Vetri, Osteria’s menu of traditional Italian thin-crust pizzas, homemade pastas and wood-grilled meats and fish quickly won over the dining public. In 2013, he opened a second location in Moorestown, New Jersey. Amis, named one of the top “10 Places for Pasta” in Bon Appétit magazine, opened in 2010; it specializes in small plates such as handcrafted pastas and house-cured meats.
Alla Spina, an Italian gastropub opened in 2012 and is a must-visit destination for beer connoisseurs of all levels. The following year saw Marc’s Vetri Family of restaurants expand to include Pizzeria Vetri which was named to GQ’s 2014 list of “Top 25 Best New Restaurants” in the country. This was followed by the opening of Lo Spiedo, a casual eatery with an emphasis on flame cooked food, in October 2014.
Marc is the author of "Il Viaggio di Vetri," "Rustic Italian Food" and "Mastering Pizza." His writing can also be found on The Huffington Post where he is a regular blogger.
Outside of his restaurants, Marc is deeply passionate about giving back to the community. In 2009, he and Jeff Benjamin created the Vetri Foundation for Children. The foundation’s signature initiative, “Eatiquette,” is a school lunch improvement program which services 10 schools, and has served nearly 265,000 healthy meals. Additionally, Marc and Jeff are the founders of the “Great Chefs Event,” to raise money and awareness for the pediatric cancer charity, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
Marc Vetri graduated from the International Culinary Center (ICC), founded as The French Culinary Institute (FCI). In 2020, ICE and ICC came together on one strong and dynamic national platform at ICE's campuses in New York City and Los Angeles. ICC’s culinary education legacy lives on at ICE, where you can explore your own future in food.
