Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo

Chefs 

Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo opened Animal restaurant in June 2008 to widespread acclaim. Since opening, the chef duo has been awarded Food & Wine Best New Chefs of 2009, received a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant, Rising Star Chefs by Star Chefs and Wine List of the Year by GQ Magazine. The duo still operates a full-service catering company, which opened the door for an appearance on Iron Chef America and paved the way for their own Food Network show, 2 Dudes Catering. Their first cookbook, Two Dudes One Pan (2008) was voted one of NPR's 10 Best Cookbooks of 2008. Jon and Vinny met while attending culinary school at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida and have worked together at famed chef Michelle Bernstein's kitchen at The Strand Restaurant in South Beach, The Wildfower Restaurant at The Lodge at Vail and Chadwick's in Los Angeles, before launching their own catering endeavor, and ultimately their first restaurant, Animal.