The inside story of one of the world's most legendary restaurants - told by the visionary who created it.

Sirio Maccioni is New York's most charismatic restaurateur - the brains, the energy, and the passion behind Le Cirque 2000. Now, for the first time, he reveals the incredible story of this landmark four-star restaurant, which has launched the careers of such world-class chefs as Jacques Torres and Daniel Boulud and won a host of prestigious awards, including the James Beard Foundation Restaurant of the Year Award (1995) and The Best Restaurant in the World Reader's Choice Award from Condé Nast Traveler (2003).

From a tough Tuscan childhood in 1930s Italy to the pinnacle of culinary success in the United States, Sirio recounts an eventful journey that is as magical and fantastic as Le Cirque itself. Throughout, 30 signature recipes and interviews with chefs (including Daniel Boulud, Michael Lomonaco, and Sottha Khunn), food writers (such as Ruth Reichl and Mimi Sheraton) and politicians, socialites, and celebrities (Rudy Giuliani, David Rockefeller, Bill Blass, and others) reveal Sirio's skill in handling the three rings of his unique culinary circus: its chefs, its clientele, and its cuisine.

[Sirio] and his restaurant have come to symbolize all that is so cosmopolitan, so kinetic, so thrilling about New York. . . . Le Cirque remains both a gastronomic mecca and the premier social dining room. - James Villas, in Town & Country

Sirio Maccioni (New York, NY) is the owner of Le Cirque 2000 (New York, Las Vegas, and Mexico City) and Osteria del Circo (New York). Peter Elliot (New York, NY) is the host of the James Beard Award-winning radio show, The Bloomberg Executive Dining Guide.