Articles
HCC chef, restaurateur alum Felipe Riccio awarded coveted Michelin star
By Donald Sparks, HCC Central Communications Director
Nov 22, 2024
HCC chef, restaurateur alum Felipe Riccio is presented with his chef’s coat recognizing him as a MICHELIN Star recipient during the organization’s ceremony in Houston on Nov. 11, 2024. Courtesy photo by Zach Hilty, BFA.com for the Michelin Guide.
There was a moment when Felipe Riccio was a student in the Houston Community College (HCC) Culinary Arts program that he felt he was pursuing the wrong education path.He messed up something so simple to cook that many people take for granted—eggs.
“I still remember going home and I was like, man, should I be doing this?” Riccio said. “Should I be cooking professionally as a living? Because that day was hard, no one finished. You know, you're supposed to cook these eggs so many different ways.”
Twelve years later, Riccio's, who is the chef of March restaurant in Houston, perseverance, labor and culinary skills have earned him the highly coveted MICHELIN Star rating.
Recognized globally for excellence and quality, the Michelin Guide offers a selection of world-class restaurants.
The famous one, two and three MICHELIN Stars identify establishments serving exceptional cuisine that are rich in flavor, remarkably executed and infused with the personality of a talented chef.
One MICHELIN Star is awarded to restaurants using top-quality ingredients, where dishes with distinct flavors are prepared to a consistently high standard. As the guide puts it, a restaurant with one MICHELIN Star “is worth a visit.”
During a visit to the HCC Culinary Arts lab after receiving his Star, Riccio, who graduated in 2012 with an associate’s degree in culinary arts, admitted he could never have imagined as a student that he would be able to give advice to current students in the program.
“I’m kind of nerdy, but I remember, when I was here at HCC, we started a modernist cooking program with Chef [Christy] Sykes,” Riccio said. “A lot of people are devoting a lot of time and attention to what they do, which is cooking or pastry baking. There's a lot of science behind it.”
The son of a father from Naples, Italy, and mother of Spanish heritage, Riccio moved to Houston as a teenager from Mexico. He took part in the ProStart culinary program in high school at Fort Bend, with the hopes of going to a prestigious culinary institute.
He found out about the HCC culinary program from a family friend and was introduced to Chef Eddy VanDamme, HCC Pastry Arts professor. Riccio was impressed with VanDamme's resume and accolades and then met Chef Sykes, which sealed the deal for him to attend HCC.
“Felipe's cohort was special,” Sykes said. “Felipe asked excellent questions, was always testing my knowledge, and pushed me to be better. Importantly, he was always respectful about it. I was inspired by his curiosity to create new activities in class to explore topics.”
She mentioned that Riccio had inspired a special topics class in Molecular Gastronomy. Students spent a semester investigating how food additives worked with different ingredient, in a science lab-type setting.
“Once Felipe graduated, he found his way into some great kitchens, created collaborations and projects before most people knew what pop-ups and ghost kitchens were,” Sykes said. “He has always been forward thinking and extremely creative.”
As an advisory board member, Riccio has given input on current trends and the state of the industry, which Sykes said is invaluable to HCC’s Culinary Arts faculty as they plan courses, update curriculum and plan lessons for each semester.
“He really has his finger on the pulse of the industry here in the U.S. and internationally,” Sykes said. “We are so thankful for his dedication to HCC and to future culinarians.”
When asked by those pursuing the culinary field which school to attend, Riccio doesn’t hesitate to promote his alma mater.
“I recommend they look at culinary programs in the community colleges, and if they're here in Houston, of course, HCC is the number one choice,” he said. “The curriculum has grown even more since I was here.”
Riccio encourages students in the program to stay the course and continue to cultivate their talents here in Houston.
“They don't need to go off to New York or anywhere else to achieve something like a MICHELIN star,” he said. “I think it's encouraging that they can do it here, still travel and experience different things, but you can come back home to your hometown and succeed in something like that.”
Riccio took questions from current students and gave advice for them to pursue their goals to graduate and put in the work outside of the classroom. For Braveion Hodges-Rawls, the opportunity to tap the brain of a MICHELIN Star chef was a blessing.
“This is my chance to actually get advice from somebody who has made it big,” he said. “It serves me motivation to see where and how far I can go after I get my degree; how to get to the level that he's at.”
Hodges-Rawls peppered Riccio with several questions and walked away with some newfound perspective about his degree choice.
“I gained good insight to focus on one specific thing and be good at that,” he said. “Take that and run with it because that's how you're going to make a name for yourself.”
Riccio’s name will be synonymous with the MICHELIN Star, but Sykes will always see him as a brother.
“We have known each other for quite a while,” she said. “It obviously started with the teacher/student relationship, but has morphed over the years into friendship, and even like family. He is like a colleague that happens to be my little brother. There is respect from both sides, and he has always been very gracious to thank me for my role in his development.”
As for cooking eggs, Riccio admits he’s still traumatized.
“I’m still not good at cooking eggs,” he said laughing aloud.
HCC chef, restaurateur alum Felipe Riccio, center, poses with current HCC Culinary Arts students during a visit to HCC Central Campus. Photo by HCC student intern Mohammad Shakilur Sheikh.