Bob Giraldi

Bob Giraldi brings an independent hand to everything he touches. Whether it’s music videos, films, commercials or restaurants his distinctive influence is immediately felt in all his projects. His feature film, “Dinner Rush” with Danny Aiello, John Corbett and Sandra Bernhard, appeared on a number of 2001’s Top 10 lists and was selected for the prestigious New Directors/New Films Series presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the MoMa. This film clearly has had an influence on several present day reality restaurant series. Giraldi’s independent films have also garnered numerous awards and have found their way into collections as diverse as the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Museum of Modern Art. He has been inducted into the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, one of the few film directors to be honored. His short film, “The Routine”, premiered at Sundance and won Best Drama at the 6th Annual Los Angeles International Short Film festival. Another short, “My Hometown”, is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame’s permanent collection, and “Dream Begins”, an integral part of New York’s national Olympic bid, now resides with the MoMa.

His latest short film, “Second Guessing Grandma”, has been awarded at film festivals across the world-- receiving various distinctive awards and wide appraisal. It examines the coming out of a twenty-something gay man to his beloved grandmother despite the mounting pressures of his mother and live-in boyfriend. At the 27th Annual Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film festival, “Second Guessing Grandma” received the Jury Award for Short Narrative. In addition, it won the Audience Award for Best Short at the Fresno Reel Pride Festival, one of the largest gay and lesbian film festivals in the United States. The short film was also hand-selected to be in the new Google YouTube Screening Room. During the 2008 holiday season, “Second Guessing Grandma” was rated as the #3 most viewed video on all of YouTube.

In 1983, Giraldi began setting the tone for music videos. His unique visual and musical storytelling ability were first seen in Michael Jackson's "Beat It". The video swept the country and won numerous awards including that year’s coveted American Music Award, the Billboard Music Award and the People’s Choice Award. Working with music luminaries such as Pat Benatar, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder and Will Smith, he continued to win, acclaim and define the future of the medium with videos like "Say, Say, Say," "Love is a Battlefield," "Running with the Night," “Don’t Drive Drunk,” "Hello," and “Just The Two of Us”.

In 1995, Giraldi and Ms. Greaney created the original website StarChefs featuring celebrity chefs and cookbook authors. StarChefs continues to be the foremost website used by professionals and food afficiandos.

In the early ‘90’s, hungry for something new, Giraldi, threw his hat into the New York restaurant ring, opening Jo-Jo with Jean Georges Vongerichten. Giraldi then helped start the Jean-Georges 4-star namesake restaurant as well as Vong and its London and Hong Kong outposts. Giraldi was also involved in Patria and Mercer Kitchen, both of which received 3 stars from The New York Times. His Tuscan fare eatery BREADTribeca earned 2 Stars from The New York Times as his Diablo Royale has become a popular taqueria in the West Village.

Giraldi continues to make his mark in the New York City culinary world by opening two more unique restaurants, Butcher Bay and TONDA, in 2009. Butcher Bay is a casual 5th street seafood shack dedicated to serving the specialties of boardwalk cuisine. TONDA, in collaboration with restaurateurs Luigi Comandatore and Dario Milanin, will bring the contemporary Naples Italian Pizzeria to East 4th by mid-to-late March. Customers will eat up a wide array of thin-crusted pizzas cooked on its centerpiece 8-foot wide-burning oven with creative piattini (small plates) on the side.

Mr. Giraldi has been on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts for over thirty years. In 2010, he is slated to become the Chair of the newly formed MFA Independent Short Film Program.

Mr. Giraldi lives in Manhattan with his wife and daughter.

Dario Milanin and Luigi Comandatore

Luigi Comandatore and Dario Milanin have earned their strong service-oriented reputation in New York City’s restaurant world. Establishing Bread eight years ago, the restaurant has become a staple of the city with downtown locations in both Nolita and Tribeca.

Their innovative use of Panini press techniques and quick, delicious, low maintenance cuisine at an ideal price was revolutionary – an intelligent idea that, since Bread’s opening in the summer of 2001, has been replicated all over the city. The co-owners of Bread have creatively expanded the venues as well as rejuvenated the menu seasonally. Maintaining their authentic Italian fare at reasonable prices, they have embellished the space that was such a crowd pleaser.

This stylish hospitality atmosphere creates an innovative feel that contributes to Bread’s repeat business seven years forward. Since opening the original Bread in 2001, Luigi Comandatore partnered up with Bob Giraldi to open Bread Tribeca in 2003, in which they have maintained a similar menu and environment that the locals have come to know and love, while also sustaining a “no reservations” policy to ensure that anyone wishing to eat there can simply walk in. Originally of Genoa, Italy, Comandatore worked with Andres Balazs hospitality properties that included The Mercer among others, prior to establishing his own brands.

Lulu was the next addition to the Comandatore/Milanin collaboration with restaurants. Opened on a lovely, charming block of Mulberry Street in Nolita, Lulu is at once a nostalgic trip to an old world, and a step into the most contemporary of cuisine. Gastropub-style elegance and quality marked Lulu as a sophisticated and understated addition to the restaurant world, which critics have noted “inspires lingering.”

In light of this level of success, Comandatore/Milanin have been retained by restaurateur Bob Giraldi, in light of their popular joint venture at Bread Tribeca. Dario and Luigi are looking east – the East Village, to be exact, in their consultation for Mr. Giraldi’s newest restaurant TONDA.

Following Giraldi’s many popular destinations including Jean-Georges and Prime Steakhouse, the new venture will be a state of the art pizzeria, with a custom-made, fire-burning rotating pizza.TONDA will be a stylish new neighborhood venue, merging the talents of each to create a new landmark East Village restaurant.

To meet the Dario and Luigi, contact Gotham PR via 212.352.2147. Press kits with digital artwork are available upon request.