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| News & Scoreboards |
Le Cirque's Impressario
Christian Gulliksen
08/02/2004
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As one chic French restaurant after another—Lutece and La Caravelle come to
mind—serve their swan song foie gras, 1970s phenomenon Le Cirque continues on,
creating signature dishes for celebrities and royalty. The creative force behind
the restaurant is Sirio Maccioni, whose rags-to-riches tale is well told,
including his rise to the top of the hard-fought New York restaurant world, in
his new autobiography, Sirio, The Story of My Life and Le Cirque (John Wiley
& Sons, May 2004).
 Maccioni grew up in poverty in the resort city of
Montecatini Terne in Tuscany. His parents had died by the time he was a
teenager, but rather than succumb to the tragedy, it steeled him to face future
tests. “I knew I was going to have a difficult life. I knew I would have to be
very strong, and never make a mistake and never lie, like my father told me,” he
writes.
Forced to grow up quickly, Maccioni entered hotel school. “I learned
very quickly that the real key to success in the hotels, besides being very good
at working at the table, was to listen to what the customers wanted and to
respond in such a way so as not to offend the people I worked with,” he says. By
the time he reached New York in 1956, he had worked in some of the world’s best
restaurants, including the Plaza-Athenee and Maxim’s. He had also earned
influential friends and admirers, such as actor Yves Montand.
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