Albert Di Meglio
Barano | Brooklyn
October 2019
Albert Di Meglio was born and raised on Staten Island, where he cooked with his Italian grandmother and got his first job at a slice shop at the age of 15. After graduating at the top of his class from the New York Restaurant School in 1996, Di Meglio started his career at the Windows on the World reopening. He then moved to Le Cirque where he worked his way up to executive sous chef under Chef Sottha Kuhn. Returning to his Italian roots, Di Meglio was tapped to helm Osteria del Circo by Restaurateur Siro Maccioni.
In 2003, Di Meglio shifted gears and began working for hotels, first as executive chef of the Ritz-Carlton and then at the Trump Soho Hotel. These roles prepared him to open beloved New York pizzeria Rubirosa Ristorante in 2010. New York Magazine voted its thin and chewy triangles as “Best Slice,” and Time Out New York called the vodka slice one of their “100 Best Dishes.” In 2016, Di Meglio opened Barano in the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The wood-fired Italian restaurant is named after his grandmother’s hometown. Shortly after, he founded natural wine shop Spirit Animal a few doors down from the restaurant to showcase the biodynamic and organically grown wines often found in the restaurant.
