What MasterChef Winner Luca Manfe Is Doing Now
Italian-born MasterChef season four winner Luca Manfé was the first male, and the first non-American, to win the episodic cooking competition that's currently filming its 11th season (via Deadline). Manfé grew up in the restaurant business and worked in restaurants in Italy, Australia, Florida, and New York, before applying to compete on MasterChef, according to his website Dinner with Luca.
Manfé first applied for season three of MasterChef in 2012, but didn't make it through the initial audition round. The next year, Manfé applied again, ultimately winning season four in 2013. Included in the prize package at the time, Manfé won $250,000 and his own cookbook. Manfé released his cookbook the year following his win, calling it, "My Italian Kitchen: Favorite Family Recipes from the Winner of MasterChef Season 4 on FOX" (via Famous People Today). In 2018, Manfé was also recruited as a brand ambassador for pizza oven company Donna Italia to help promote its oven to the pizza industry (via Cision PR Web). But that's not all Manfé's been up to.
How MasterChef winner Luca Manfe continues to please fans with his recipes
Manfé started his own catering company, Dinner with Luca, during the airing of his season on MasterChef. A family visiting New York sent him a message on social media asking if he could cook for them, and the website went live almost immediately. Through Dinner with Luca, Manfé has traveled the country and Canada, cooking for small and large groups (via Voyage Dallas).
Manfé had started a food truck called The Lucky Fig after MasterChef, but says it was a disaster because the food he was serving — high-end Italian — wasn't the right concept for a food truck. After trying to make it work for about a year, Manfé closed the food truck. During the pandemic, Manfé has been filming recipes to post on his website, where he also offers online cooking classes. He currently has no plans for a second cookbook. Today, Manfé lives in a tiny home in Texas, with his wife Cate and two sons, saying that his family is now his priority (via This is Yu).