Missy Robbins – one of America’s few Four-Star women chefs – has always been intrigued by food. Shortly before graduating from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1993, her passion became her career when she took a part-time job at 1789 Restaurant. She was hooked, and in 1994, Robbins enrolled at one of the nation’s premier culinary career training centers, Peter Kump’s New York School of Cooking (now The Institute of Culinary Education). An externship at March Restaurant followed, where she cooked for renowned Chef Wayne Nish before heading to Arcadia, where she worked under Chef Anne Rosenzweig. In spring of 1995, a full-time position opened at March and Missy took advantage of the opportunity to return to her esteemed training ground. She stayed for two years before being wooed away again by Rosenzweig, this time to work at The Lobster Club. Robbins ran The Lobster Club kitchen for two years, developing her creative side, sharpening her leadership skills and gaining insight into the business operations of a restaurant.

 To further the breadth of her culinary experience, Robbins embarked on an excursion to Northern Italy in 1999, where she cooked in two dynamic kitchens: a small, family-run restaurant and the Guide Michelin–rated Agli Amici in Friuli. As she became intimate with Italian products and cooking, Robbins grew to love the simplicity, regional inspiration and focus on ingredients that characterize Italian food.

 Upon her return to the United States in 2000, Robbins became the first chef de cuisine at New York’s SoHo Grand Hotel. Yearning to celebrate the simplicity of Italian fare, Robbins found herself lured to Chicago in 2003 by the opportunity to work with one of the nation’s few four-star Italian chefs, Tony Mantuano, at the highly acclaimed Spiaggia. As Executive Chef of Spiaggia, Robbins brings her ardor for Italian cooking to life. She leads the kitchen and continually evolves the restaurant’s menu in a direction that captures the essence of regional Italian cuisine.

Robbins’ tenure at Spiaggia has garnered both local and national attention. In 2005, Starchefs.com named her one of Chicago’s Ten Rising Star Chefs of the Year. The same year, she received the Most Promising Chef Award, given by journalist William Rice in conjunction with the Chicago Wine & Food Festival. Additionally, Missy was entered into the Institute of Culinary Education’s Hall of Fame in autumn 2005, while Restaurant Hospitality named her a Rising Star Chef. She has since been recognized as a culinary fixture by the Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune, Today’s Chicago Woman among others