Husband and wife team Elizabeth and Luigi began developing their winning, dining concept in 1994 in Aspen, creating the perfect balance of serving authentic Italian cuisine and providing attentive service to each guest. Now they apply those concepts to all three of their Campo de Fiori restaurants. The pair also opened a fourth restaurant, Gusto, in 2001. The Giordani’s belief that dining is a sensorial experience has made them synonymous with fine dining in Aspen, Denver, and Vail, Colorado. Luigi carries a degree from an esteemed culinary school in Rome and develops all of the menus with Chef/Partner Berto Paglia. Elizabeth graduated from Michigan State with a degree in Advertising and a minor in Marketing, and oversees the restaurant employees regarding presentation, décor and service etiquette. The Giordani’s reside in Aspen, where they embrace the seasonal activities associated with the great Colorado outdoors.
Chef Paglia has been preparing food since he was thirteen years old. Born in Abruzzo, Italy, Chef Paglia developed a passion for cooking after moving to Venice to assist his older brother in different restaurants. After graduating from culinary school in Venice, Chef Paglia apprenticed in some of Italy’s top kitchens and at the age of 22, was invited to cook for the Pope! Chef Paglia moved to the United States in the early 1990’s to work for a restaurant group in Atlanta. He then relocated to Aspen to join forces with Elizabeth and Luigi Giordani to open the first Campo de Fiori in 1994. Chef Paglia’s personal style of cooking is traditional Italian mixed with seasonal products. He provides guests with an original direction in Italian dining with an emphasis on utilizing fresh market products, imagination and a clear respect for raw materials.
Michelle is Elizabeth's sister and an integral part of Campo de Fiori's success. She is a University of Michigan graduate who moved to Colorado after meeting the love of her life, and now husband. Her involvement with the restaurant started prior to the Aspen location's opening and continues to this day. She literally helped to build the restaurant. Working behind the scenes, she guides the other partners in all aspects of the business. It is her care and dedication that assists in creating order in a business that many would say is crazy.
Josh Hanfling moved to Denver in 1992 from Washington DC and has ardently made Denver his home. Josh has been in involved in a number of companies since moving to Denver and he currently consults to individuals and corporations on community relations and business development. Josh is active politically and is involved with a number of non-profits including The Denver Hospice, National Jewish Hospital, Concerts for Kids, Friends of the Denver Fire Department, Denver Justice Council, The American Transplant Foundation, AIPAC and the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Ristorante Campo de Fiori in Denver welcomed Josh with his vast business knowledge and generous spirit as a restaurant partner in January 2007.
David Ellsweig - General Manager, Campo de Fiori, Aspen
In 2001, Campo de Fiori was fortunate to have David Ellsweig join our team as head-waiter. David began his restaurant career at the age of 16 in New Jersey. He sharpened his hospitality skills while working his way through college, graduating Suma cum Laude as Valedictorian at Arizona State in 1996. David headed to Harvard to study genetics, but redirected his education to world studies traveling to over 120 countries in two years. He returned to the states to start-up his own entrepreneurial venture: co-owning and operating the South American restaurant Van Dam from 1998 - 2001 in the trendy Soho district of Manhattan. We are pleased to have David welcoming guests and discussing complicated wines and world topics at Campo Aspen nightly.
At the age of seventeen, Chef Garofalo began his culinary career at a local eatery in his village of Torre del Greco, Italy. That experience provided Giuseppe with the incentive to attend culinary school in Avellino, where he learned the techniques that helped develop his creativity in the cucina. One of the first places Garofalo applied his talents was along the coast of Italy in Casina Rossa. He then went to work at Campiello, where he created dishes for the famous artists of La Fenice in Venice. Giuseppe met his American wife while working at The Derby in Rome. In 1999 they moved to Aspen and Giuseppe was hired at the Campo de Fiori restaurant where he has been tantalizing the taste buds of visitors and locals alike, ever since.
Growing up in Napoli, Italy, Bosco’s true desire was to work in the hospitality industry. After graduating from college, Bosco joined a major cruise line and sailed the seas for five years learning the hospitality trade. He then traveled to and worked in Switzerland and Germany before settling in the United States in 1998. While vacationing in Aspen, Bosco met Elizabeth and Luigi and developed an instant rapport. The Giordanis convinced Giuseppe to move to Aspen, and after assisting with the successful opening of Campo de Fiori in Denver, Giuseppe relocated to the Vail area.
Guiseppina Verzi is responsible for Chef Simone’s career in the kitchen. His grandmother encouraged his early interest in the culinary art while he was growing up in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy. Simone spent three years attending culinary school in Longarone before developing his skills further while working in the kitchen of a military training school for a year. After that adventure, Simone traveled the globe applying and honing his techniques at the Hotel Monaco in Venice, the Savoy Hotel in London, and various high-end kitchens in Florida, California, and Aspen, Colorado. Aspen is where Simone met Elizabeth and Luigi in 1997 and he was quickly invited to apply his talents toward the opening of the second Campo de Fiori in Vail. Chef Reatti specializes in Northern Italian cuisine, with a flair for creating seafood sensations.
Chef Jorma began his culinary career in 1987. His passion for food developed through his mother’s cooking, but his professional education came from performing beside great chefs such as Don Braddy, Antonio Mellino, Antonio Racé, and Liberato Urru. Chef Jorma sharpened his skills while working at Pulcinella Ristorante, Tortugas, and Quattro Passi. In the spring of 2003, Chef Cox took a sabbatical to conduct an intensive tour of the wine regions of Piemonte, Tuscany, Campania, Basilicata and Puglia. He interacted with the local farmers, producers and distributors of the finest Italian grapes and developed a stronger understanding of how wine can enhance or obstruct the flavor of each dish. All of us at Campo Denver are thrilled to have Chef Jorma educating our palates.
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