About Christian Petroni

Born and raised in the Bronx, Christian Petroni has made a name of himself by becoming one of the most prevalent chefs in Italian cuisine & the art of red sauce in The NY & NYC area. After spending years under the tutelage of Andy Pforzheimer and the Barteca Group, Christian moved on to start the groundbreaking woodfired-Italian restaurant, Fortina, along with his partner John Nealon. During his time at Fortina, Christian made leaps and bounds on the Food Network, winning Next Food Network Star, Season 14; in addition to recurring ongoing guest appearances judging and cooking on shows like Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, Guy’s Grocery Games, Guys Ranch Kitchen, Diners Drive Ins & Dives, Supermarket Stakeout, Tournament of Champions and more.

With eyes towards an ever growing multimedia career and desires to diversify his culinary range, Christian stepped away from the Fortina restaurant group after successfully opening five restaurants in 8 years. In the months that followed, CP founded Gabagool Media: multi-media and consulting company with a specialize focus in creating content/apparel & guidance for chefs and small businesses worldwide.