Roberto Donna

Roberto Donna, an Italian chef and restaurateur based in Washington, D.C., started his culinary journey early. He was born in Turin, Italy, and at age 13 began attending culinary school. By 19, he had moved to the United States and was working at an Italian restaurant on K Street in the capital. In 1984, he launched Galileo in Dupont Circle, a 50-seat spot that quickly became a hit. In its early days, even Vice-President George H. W. Bush couldn't get a last-minute table. Donna partnered with Savino Recine to open more relaxed eateries: first Primi Piatti, then I Matti, which focused on pizza and pasta. By the late 1990s, his restaurant group had expanded to 12 locations, including Il Radicchio, Pesce, and Barolo. In 1999, he took over a neighboring space to enlarge Galileo and created Il Laboratorio del Galileo, a restaurant-within-a-restaurant that offered multi-course meals in a 25-to-30-seat dining room with a glass-walled kitchen for guests to watch the chefs.

Donna released a cookbook, Cooking in Piedmont, in 1996. That same year, he earned the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. The following year, Wine Spectator named Galileo one of the "10 Best Italian Restaurants in America." The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington gave him its "Chef of the Year" award in 1990 and "Restaurateur of the Year" in 1995. In 1996, the Italian Government invited him to Rome to receive the Insegna del Ristorante Italiano, an honor for serving the best authentic Italian food outside Italy.

In 2005, Donna appeared on Iron Chef America, where he lost to Masaharu Morimoto after failing to plate enough dishes. He asked for a rematch and beat Morimoto in 2006. But his business faced serious trouble. In 2004, his company filed for bankruptcy, and his restaurants started shutting down. Galileo closed in 2006, and by the time Bebo Trattoria closed in 2009, Donna had no restaurants left. He was prosecuted for not paying taxes at Bebo, and in 2010 he pleaded guilty to felony embezzlement. He received a five-year suspended sentence, contingent on probation, good behavior, and restitution. Even as he and his partners dealt with several civil lawsuits, Donna returned to the kitchen in October 2010 by opening Galileo III, which closed abruptly in less than a year.

Donna made a comeback in 2012 with Al Dente in Embassy Row, and Esquire magazine named him its "Chef of the Year." In February 2013, he added a four-seat counter called Roberto's 4 inside Al Dente. Later that year, he opened Alba Osteria in Mount Vernon Triangle, which closed in 2019 due to a rent dispute with the landlord. In February 2022, he opened Roberto’s in Vienna, Virginia, where he works as chef. The restaurant is solely owned by his wife, Nancy Sabbagh.