Carla Pellegrino

Caesars Palace

Rao's at Caesars Palace

Carla Pellegrino was born Carla Madeira in Rio de Janeiro, the daughter of a Portuguese father and a second-generation Italian mother. As early as age 10, Carla was cooking daily for her family and helping to run her mother’s catering business, which schooled her in the preparation of traditional Brazilian, Italian and Portuguese cuisine. At age 17, Carla moved to Liguria, Italy, where she owned and ran a fish store, conducting cooking demonstrations three times a week.

In 1997, Carla visited New York City where she met Frank Pellegrino Jr., a fourth-generation owner of the legendary Rao’s restaurant in Harlem (formerly the area where many of the city’s Italian immigrants settled). After a whirlwind romance and marriage, the two opened Baldoria restaurant in 2000 in Manhattan, where Carla created the menu by adapting some of the 100-year old recipes from Rao’s. She went on to graduate with honors from the French Culinary Institute in 2001.

When the family decided to expand the Rao’s concept to Caesars Palace Las Vegas in 2006, Carla was the natural choice to helm the kitchen. With her husband, Frank Jr. managing the front of the house, Carla creates inimitable classic Rao’s dishes, and some new favorites, for dinner daily.

Carla has made many guest appearances, including cooking on the “Today” show (NBC), the Food Network, and has been a favorite at the acclaimed DeGustibus Cooking School in New York City and various Williams-Sonoma stores. Carla has contributed to six cookbooks, including Meat and Potatoes, The New York Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from the Dining Capital of the World, and Rao’s Recipes from the Neighborhood.