Celebrating a Chef With “Super Powers” as the 2026 Hamilton Life Achievement Award Recipient
November 13, 2025
In Daniel Bazzinotti’s view, he’s created a winning recipe over the course of his culinary career by embracing creativity and collaboration – as well as his learning differences. These personal ingredients have resulted in numerous awards and accolades for his work in the kitchen, and soon he’ll have one more to add to the list: Hamilton Life Achievement Award honoree! Chef Bazzinotti will join us on Feb. 27, 2026, for a full day of activities across the Wheeler community, culminating in that evening’s Mind Your ps and qs event, when he’ll receive the award.
“I’m truly honored to be the 2026 Hamilton Life Achievement Award recipient,” he says. “I’m excited to speak with the students, share my experiences, and highlight how understanding my own learning style made a difference. What means the most is if my story can help even one student embrace their strengths and find where they can thrive.”
Growing up, Bazzinotti sensed he learned differently, even without an official diagnosis. “For a while, I thought something was wrong with me,” he recalls, “but that all changed when I started working in a kitchen and beginning a high school culinary program. Alongside others with similar learning styles, I realized there was nothing wrong at all – I just learn best through hands-on experiences and creative problem-solving. That environment showed me that my unique way of thinking is actually a super power!”
Chef Bazzinotti got his professional start alongside renowned Chef Lydia Shire at Scampo in the Liberty Hotel in Boston’s Beacon Hill. He later collaborated with Chef Keith Pooler to open Bergamot and Bisq in Cambridge, earning Eater Boston’s Chef of the Year (2015) for his innovative small-plates menu. In 2016, he helped open Eataly Boston and Eataly Downtown New York and served as the executive chef at Eataly and its flagship restaurant, Terra, which earned him recognition from Boston Magazine as Best Up-and-Coming Chef (2018).
In 2022, Chef Bazzinotti partnered with the Bromberg Brothers’ Blue Ribbon Restaurants Group to bring Blue Ribbon Sushi, Blue Ribbon Brasserie, and Pescador Coastal Grill to Boston’s Kenmore Square. Most recently, he returned to his alma mater, Johnson & Wales University, where he teaches a Banquets and Catering course, mentors students in butchering and charcuterie, and advises the Johnson & Wales Charcuterie Club.
“We are thrilled to honor accomplished chef and restaurateur Daniel Bazzinotti,” says Head of the Hamilton School at Wheeler Bill McCarthy. “His story of perseverance reflects what we hope all of our students come to understand at Hamilton – that when you embrace how you learn and lean into your strengths, you can be successful in school and well beyond.”
Chef Bazzinotti will be the 31st recipient of the Hamilton Life Achievement Award, joining a distinguished group that includes deep-sea explorer Robert D. Ballard, paleontologist Jack Horner, polar explorer Ann Bancroft, and last year’s honoree, actor, educator, and author Khalil Munir. The Feb. 27 celebration will feature numerous activities, including a schoolwide assembly in the morning, and the aforementioned Mind Your ps and qs event that evening.
The Hamilton Life Achievement Award celebrates individuals who inspire the Wheeler community through their personal and professional accomplishments. Since its founding nearly four decades ago, The Hamilton School at Wheeler has helped students with great cognitive ability, but who struggle with reading, organization, and study skills due to learning differences, to develop essential skills and meet the highest expectations.
We’ll share an invitation for the Mind Your ps and qs event with all members of the Wheeler community in January.
