Biography

Larry and the properties he has represented have received many awards, among them the Cordon Bleu Certificate from the Society of Bacchus, the Grand Award from the Wine Spectator, the International Wine & Food Society Certificate of Merit, and the Fine Dining Magazine Award of Excellence. While cooking at these venues, he received accolades from: The New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, L.A. Times, Sunset Magazine, Food Arts, Redbook, San Francisco Chronicle, Wine and Food, The Wine Spectator and many other local and international publications. During Larry’s first visit to Sonoma, Napa and Alexander valleys he realized he had discovered “Chef Heaven.” He found a vibrant wine and food culture and a rich fermentation of people, soil and elements. He now dreamed of living and cooking in the wine country.			scroll
Two years later he was invited to serve as Executive Chef of the world-famous Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco. He accepted the position and moved 3,000 miles closer to his dream. At the time the Stanford Court was rated as No. 1 in the Americas, 15th in the world, and one of only six hotels in America awarded Mobil Five Star status. His reputation in the Bay Area and beyond began to grow when he received three stars (the highest rating at the time) from the San Francisco Chronicle for his cooking excellence in Stanford Court’s Fournous Ovens Restaurant. He began catering elegant dinners and major wine and food events for Sonoma and Napa Wineries, French chateaux and prestigious wine and food societies. As word spread, he traveled extensively as guest chef, speaker and teacher at events throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and Central America.
Larry took the final step to completing his dream when he left Stanford Court and moved to Sonoma County to create Larry Vito Catering. Drawing from the wine country’s agricultural bounty, he cooks with fresh, fabulous ingredients that enable him to practice the most exciting aspect of his craft with “extraordinary sensitivity toward wine and food pairing.”
Larry and his staff take professional pride in overseeing the details of each event. Service and event coordination is under the capable direction of Renee Fritze, whose 20 years experience in restaurant service and management assures clients are well taken care of throughout their event. When not catering to his clients. Larry and Renee can be found at home with their family. In between enjoying Larry's great cuisine, they adventure to near and far away places, where they peddle up mountains or paddle their kayaks along the Sonoma coastline.
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