American celebrity chef Antonia Lofaso is a famous celebrity chef and restaurateur who moved up the ladder from a contestant on Top Chef to a respected judge of many cooking competition shows such as Beachside Brawl, Top Chef, Top Chef: All-Star, Top Chef Duals, Cutthroat Kitchen, Guys Grocery Games, Guy’s Chance Of A Lifetime and Guy's Ultimate Game Night. where she was trusted for her culinary knowledge and judgments
Read the full article to know about the International Culinary Center graduate's net worth, husband queries, relationship with ex-boyfriend Heavy D, daughter, and marital & dating status.
How many restaurants does Antonia Lofaso own?
Altogether, Antonia Lofaso co-owns four restaurants, one bar, and a catering business https://www.instagram.com/p/CHV1rsPBNwt/?hl=en
The Los Angeles native functions as executive chef at three restaurants, Scopia Italian Roots, Black Market Liquor Bar, and Dama—which she co-owns with Mario Gudemi and Salvatore Aurora.
Gudemi and Aurora are also her partners at the modern cocktail bar, The Chestnut Club.
With Gudemi, Lofaso also co-owns The Local Peasant.
When she is not busy looking after her restaurants, she keeps herself occupied with her catering business called Antonia Lofaso Catering.
What is Antonia Lofaso's Net Worth?
Lofaso has an estimated net worth of $15 million.
Does Antonia Lofaso have Husband or Boyfriend as of Now?
Lofaso has remained private about her dating life after the devastating death of her boyfriend, Heavy D.
There were rumors that the two got married secretly but they never commented about them.
Till now, the Selena + Chef show guest has never been married or engaged as per public knowledge.
However, she has been the subject of a potential dating rumor, to say the least.
Antonia Lofaso’s Appearance in 'The Bachelorette' Led Fans to Believe She Was Finally Dating
Lofaso's sighting in the 16th season of the dating reality show, The Bachelorette, made headlines in 2020.
Her appearance even made many wonder if she was back in the dating game 9 years after her boyfriend's death.
The celebrity chef only appeared for a brief time during the December 15 episode of the sixteenth season of The Bachelorette. But that was enough to get fans of both the show and the chef riled up.
Her appearance in the show came after one of the top contenders of the shows, Ben Smith, took the 16th Bachelorette Tayshia Adams on a hometown date.
However, the chef’s appearance was not as scandalous as many would have you believe.
Before the potential couple’s date, Smith told Adams beforehand that she’d be meeting Antonia at a stimulating date at the Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs.
Smith said, "I told you before, my life is full of strong, decisive, bold, independent women, and the two people you're going to meet today are my two favorites -- a really close family friend, her name is Antonia, she is with me more than anybody else. And you and her are eerily similar, it's incredible."
It turns out, Lofaso and Smith go way back, and the two have made several appearances on each other’s Instagram over the years. She regards herself as a mother figure to him. She told Mashed that they lived in the same neighborhood and connected over gym training sessions as he was a trainer himself.
According to her, she went to the reality show because Smith regarder high of her as a mentor,
She revealed,
And during the pandemic, he created this whole program called Delta Bravo, which I still do. It's like an online program that I can do in my back yard. And so, because he lives in the neighborhood, and we were all shut down, he was with me. He delivered meals with me to frontline workers. We just — there's this community of people that live in our neighborhood. So, they called him to do "The Bachelorette," and he was like, "Should I do it?" I was like, "Yeah. 100%. Why not?"
So, when he was out there, and I'm very much like a mom figure to him. You know what I mean? I hate saying that because I'm only 15 years older than him. I'm like hello, I'm not really your mom. But the producers called me because his parents couldn't come because of COVID. "Is there any chance that you can come with his sister? He talks about you as just like this great mentor," or whatever. So, I ended up on The Bachelorette in 2020.
In November 2020, Smith posted a video with the chef with the caption, “Happy Birthday Antonia, I love you very much. Thank you for being you.” But as of May 2021, the post has been removed from his account.
In addition to being a close family friend, Lofaso also trains in Smith's gym, Deuce.
And all the connection between Lofaso and Smith and her appearance in the show made fans crazy and led to several speculations of them possibly dating sometime in the past.
"Is nobody gonna talk about the fact that Ben's family friend is ANTONIA LOFASO FROM FOOD NETWORK?!?! #TheBachelorette," one wrote on Twitter.
Lofaso dated Ex-boyfriend Heavy D for Years
If you don't know, Antonia Lofaso's only known relationship was with deceased Jamaican rapper Heavy D (born name: Dwight Errington Myers) with whom she was in a relationship for years.
The two even welcomed their daughter, Xea Myers, in 2000.
Their relationship was deemed as unbreakable as the two perfectly complemented and understood each other distinct crafts and busy schedules.
So I just learned that Chef Antonia Lofaso on Food Network was Heavy D’s partner and they had a daughter. #TheMoreYouKnow — Your Friendly Neighborhood Spinster (@starfishncoffee) May 13, 2021
Everything seemed going great for the unmarried couple until the rapper died of a blood clot in his lung at the age of 44 in 2011.
According to The Guardian, his sudden death was a result of a condition called pulmonary embolism which was resulted by deep vein thrombosis.
The magazine noted that the rapper was 344lb (26 stone) and highlighted that air travel and obesity as common causes of thrombosis.
"Yes, (the flight) is the connection. He had reportedly been in London for about six weeks and had returned to LA within the preceding week or so, " chief corner investigator Craig Harvey told New York Daily News.
Prior to Antonia, Dwight only had a dating history with American actress Halle Berry.
Antonia's Inexplicable Love for Daughter Comes First Before Any Affair
Despite the rumors of her dating a possible boyfriend, Lofaso has remained single (at least publicly) ever since the death of her boyfriend in 2011.
FYI, Lofaso and Heavy D had never confirmed if they were married or husband and wife — but it was always official that they were partners and parents to their daughter, Xea Myers.
And even though the rapper died when her daughter was only eleven, the celebrity chef has mentioned several times about receiving lots of help from Heavy D’s family in raising her daughter, who is now 23 years old.
Despite being a chef who’s got a lot on her hands, including her two restaurants and running Black Market Liquor Bar, Lofaso doesn’t fail to manage more than enough time for her daughter.
Being a mom, she never forgets her priorities and puts her daughter ahead of her passion for cooking and any would-be romantic affair.
She often shows off her daughter on Instagram and also updates important events surrounding her daughter’s life.
Adding to that, Lofaso doesn't need any special occasion to share her daughter's smiles on her Instagram as well. She's always posting pictures of her daughter constantly thanking her for just being there.
Her daughter Myers isn’t far back when it comes to sharing moments she spends with her mother. She also often posts pictures with her mother, from the most random moments to the most special events.
The pair resorted to mother-daughter bonding and going out for food as a way of coping with Heavy D's death.
When Mashed asked the restaurateur in February 2023 if she and her daughter took "solace together in cooking" after Dwight's death, she said,
No, interestingly enough. It was just like a whirlwind. It was just honestly like more survival mode. We moved and all that kind of stuff, but our... we found a lot in going out to eat together. That's kind of like our thing. So, she knows how to cook. She knows how to cook well. But when we eat at home at our house, it's like very clean eating and very sort of like not a lot of junk food in the house unless we're having a dinner party or something like that. So, our stuff is like we're going to go out to eat. And so, that's always been our thing. We love Korean barbecue, and we love sushi. We love to be out together eating. That's our favorite thing. We've taken trips to Paris and Italy and all these areas and just all we do is eat the whole trip.
Indeed, the Got Me Waiting rapper's death caused much turmoil in Lofaso's life, especially since their daughter was only 11 at the time. But, the regrettable event didn't stop her from focusing on her passion and touching her daughter's life.
Her daughter Xeya spoke to Harry & David about their solid bond in April 2021, “My mom is, hands down, the strongest and most hardworking person that I have ever come across. You just have to know us to understand the energy that we have and the relationship that we share. It’s very special, for sure.”
Who is Antonia Lofaso Daughter Xea Myers?
Xea Myers is the daughter of later rapper Heavy D (full name: Dwight Arrington Myers).
In terms of her television appearances, Myers has been seen on Guy's Grocery Games, Crossed, Unsung, and the documentary focused on her father's life titled Be Inspired: The Life of Heavy D.
According to Yahoo, Lofaso's daughter Myers is a fitness enthusiast just like her mother, and the two often worked out together.
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