In 2018, less than a year into starting Made In, we were looking for investors who believed in what Jake and I were building.
A friend introduced us to Danny Meyer's investment team. We pitched, and they were kind, but we were too early and too small. But they said we should talk to Tom Colicchio, who was writing angel checks and might be interested.
We emailed Tom for three months without a single reply. We'd basically given up when, out of nowhere on a Sunday, he wrote back. He'd been overseas filming a season of Top Chef and was just catching up on email. He was headed back to New York and asked if we could meet for breakfast Monday morning, assuming we were local too.
We weren't, since we had located the brand's HQ in Austin, Texas. So we dropped our Sunday plans, booked a flight, and showed up for breakfast the next morning as if we still lived in New York City. Tom told us nearly every cookware company had pitched him over the past two decades, and none had approached the market the way we had. He said he wanted in immediately, and he meant it. Genuine and approachable from the first conversation.
That breakfast was one of the best memories in our 10-year Made In history.
Fun side note: People Magazine ended up covering the story, and like an idiot, I wore a shirt with a design that made me look like I had massive armpit sweat stains. I still can't live down that moment. All I could find was this super pixelated version of the photo online, so at least that's good.
Tom has been part of Made In ever since. We outfitted his new restaurants throughout New York and Vegas, visited his home in the North Fork of Long Island, and during the pandemic, when everyone was fishing and cooking more than ever, we built an outdoor fishing knife with him for his deep-sea trips.
Some rough-around-the-edges content we filmed with Tom from Made In's early years.
Watch from the archives:
You'll notice how far our content team has come since our early days.
He was also a big motivator and design partner behind our Carbon Steel line. He helped us develop our first Carbon Steel Roasting Pan. Tom argued that a roasting pan shouldn't sit in the back of a cupboard eleven months a year. It should go from burner to oven and handle a Tuesday night chicken just as well as a holiday bird. We built it his way, and launched it in 2019.
A few years later, Tom pulled out a pan that was over forty years old. He'd bought it at Zabars in New York, had no idea what brand it was, and called it his favorite pan of all time, one he half-credited with getting him through the early years of his career in demanding kitchens. He asked if we could bring it back.
We started the project in 2023, and in 2024 we launched the remastered version (watch the behind-the-design here). It's thicker than our normal Carbon Steel for serious heat retention and searing, pre-seasoned so it's nonstick straight out of the box, and finished with a brass handle that makes it look as good as it cooks. It's been one of our best-performing lines since.
The holiday season is always exciting because we bring back the full Tom Colicchio Carbon Steel collection, including the roasting pan he designed.
Shop >> Tom Carbon Steel Collection
Shop >> Tom Roasting Pan
Shop >> Remastered Frying Pans
We know you'll look back on these pans fondly 40 years from now.
Want more Tom content? Watch the Dish That Launched His Career.
Happy Sunday!
Chip, CEO and Co-Founder
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