Awards & Honors
A 1989 High Honors Graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Christopher Lampo is a Certified Executive Chef by The American Culinary Federation and holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors from Florida International University in Hospitality Management. He is a Founding Member of the Culinary Institute of America’s Alumni Council Board of Trustees. His numerous awards and accolades include membership in the prestigious Les Amis d’Escoffier society of professional chefs, as well as Chaines des Rotisseurs and DiRoNA (Distinguished Restaurants of North America). He has also received the Les Amis d’Escoffier Award of Merit, is a member of The American Culinary Federation and The World Association of Cooks Society, and his restaurant, Christopher’s World Grille has recently received Triple A’s impressive 4-Diamond rating. For the past four years in a row, Christopher’s wine list has been honored with an Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator magazine. Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRōNA) – Restaurants across the United States, Canada and Mexico comprise the elite membership of DiRōNA. To date, fewer than 800 restaurants have earned the right to call themselves a DiRōNA restaurant and display this Achievement of Distinction in Dining. To qualify, a restaurant must be in operation for two years under the same concept, and pass a rigorous anonymous inspection. Ambience, wine list, cuisine, service and check accuracy are scored and only those who pass on all levels are offered DiRōNA membership.
- Culinary Institute of America Mentor and Intern Site
- Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
- OpenTable Diners' Choice Award - Best Ambience, Best Food, Best Service, and Best Overall
- Chef of the Year 2006 – Texas Chef’s Association, Brazos Valley Chapter
- Chef/Owner Christopher Lampo, Certified Executive Chef by The American Culinary Federation 2005 - present
- The Bryan Eagle Reader’s Poll Awards
- Best Fine Dining Restaurant - 10 years in a row from the year we opened
- Best Chef - every year since the category existed
- Most Romantic Dining - multiple years
- Best Special Occasion Restaurant - multiple years
- Favorite Overall Restaurant - 2008, 2009
- Best Business Lunch - 2009
- Best Waitress, Karin Shepard - 2009
- Best Fine Dining Restaurant in the Brazos Valley - Voted 9 years in a row by Best of the Brazos Awards (every year this award have been given)
- Bryan Rotary Club/Newman 10 Business Performance Award honoring sales achievements and economic influence on the local community
- Les Amis d’Escoffier Society of Houston
- Award of Merit for Culinary Contributions
- Honored Host Designee for Annual Spring Luncheon, 2007
- International Wine & Food Society of Houston
- Certificate of Recognition for Culinary Excellence & Outstanding Service
- Honored Host Designee for Annual Spring Luncheon, 2008
- Chef Showdown Champion – Texas Mushroom Festival 2005
- Brazos Bravo Award – for marketing and advertisement campaign excellence
- Texas Beef Council Designee – Selected as one of the Top Chefs in Texas to participate in a Food Arts Magazine Research & Development Expose, Spring 2008
- Personal Chef and Preferred Caterer to George and Barbara Bush at The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, Foundation and private residence as they entertain heads of state, international dignitaries, political leaders and industry leaders from around the world.
Additional Staff Awards/Achievements:
- Wine Director, Devin Tinney, 1st Level Sommelier 2008
- Head Server, Karin Shepard, Texas Restaurant Association Best Server in Texas, 1999
Memberships and Associations
Board Memberships, past and present
- Founding Member- Alumni Council of The Culinary Institute of America
- Bryan-College Station Convention and Visitor's Bureau
- College Station Independent School District Education Foundation Board
- Memorial Student Center Organization for Performing Arts Association
- Texas Restaurant Association - Brazos Valley Chapter
- Texas Chef’s Association- Brazos Valley Chapter- Membership Chair
- Pastoral Council- St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Diocese of Austin
- The Culinary Institute of America Judiciary Board
Association Memberships
- Les Chaines des Rotisseurs - Maitre Rotisseur
- Les Amis d’Escoffier
- American Culinary Federation- Certified Executive Chef
- World Society of Cooks
- Texas Chefs Association
- Texas Restaurant Association
- Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce
Press
The Eagle
"Culinary Institute Picks Bryan Chef for Board"
Sunday, February 24, 2008, p.E1
"Christopher Lampo, owner of Christopher's World Grille in Bryan, has been selected to serve as a founding member of the Culinary Institute of America's alumni council board of trustees.
Lampo was a 1989 high honors graduate of the New York-based institute.
'The school would like to reconnect with all of its alumni,' Lampo said. 'They have almost 40,000 alumni around the world.'
Lampo said the institute's alumni director chose 15 board members from 200 applicants. The alumni director had requested a resume and other information from the 200 graduates.
Lampo, who is also a certified executive chef with the American Culinary Federation, holds a bachelor of science degree in hospitality management from Florida International University. He opened Christopher's World Grille in 1999, after working at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, the Houstonian Hotel and Spa, Houston's Restaurants, The River Cafe in London and Christopher's American Grille in London.
He also worked as a chef on private yachts in Europe, North America and the South Pacific."
Texas Co-Op Power, Bryan Texas Utilities
"Christopher's World Grille - Local Boy Travels World and Brings It Home With Him"
May 2008, p.20-21
"...Diners visiting this upscale restaurant located in Bryan at 5001 Boonville Road enjoy tantalizing fare that is the culmination of a lifetime of cooking.
...Diners will enjoy a new menu every six months...Using only the best ingredients such as prime beef and fresh seafood flown in twice each week and paired with wines recommended on the Wine Spectator wine list, his continental cuisine is infused with a variety of influences - French, Italian, Asian, Southwest Texas and German.
Mr. Lampo and his more than 100 employees strive to make your meal or catered even perfect. They will customize any meal. 'Our goal,' he asserted, 'is to give our customers a chance to escape from their everyday lives. We do more than sell food and wine; we provide an experience...'
He (Mr. Lampo) emphasized, 'It is an honor to serve and be a part of our community members' lives. Whether we are serving for President George W. Bush, someone celebrating a special occasion, or looking for a nice evening meal, we do our best to make the experience memorable.'
Besides offering delectable meals to patrons, Mr. Lampo and his staff choose a charitable project several times each year. In addition to specific community projects, Christopher's World Grille will support as many charitable organizations as possible.
Always striving to make the dining experience special, Christopher's World Grille offers live entertainment and special dining events...If you would like to step into other parts of the world, Mr. Lampo and his dedicated staff will be happy to provide you with a meal specially designed to make just such an escape possible.
The Kansas City Star
Field Trips: Cities of the Big 12 Conference: Part 2
"Five Slam Dunks"
Sunday, February 26, 2006, p. F5
By Susan J. Kraus - author of "A Game Guide to Towns of the Big 12"
"For outstanding gourmet dining, Christopher's World Grille (5001 Boonville Road, Bryan) is tops. You'll find intimate decor and ambiance, a tempting menu of world-class cuisine and exceptional service. Try the blackened shrimp and crawfish fondue to start, the white Godiva cordial to end."
Insite Magazine
January 1999 "Yacht Cuisine" by Melanie Maxcey
"Christopher Lampo had cooked for the likes of Robert De Niro and Elle Macpherson. Now he wants to cook for you . . . After a 10-year absence, the Bryan native has lots of stories to tell. He has managed restaurants and worked abroad as head chef on two private yachts. Now, after returning to Bryan a year ago, he is working to fulfill another dream, owning his own restaurant.
Lampo says he always knew he wanted to be a chef. 'When I was 10 years old, I had a cookbook. My brother and his friends would play football, and I would create three to four snacks for them - ham and cheese and Ritz crackers.'
He's moved out of the pee-wee football league. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of American, Lampo worked in management at Houston's restaurant and then the Houstonian Hotel... He worked in London and then went to the South of France... He traveled the entire Italian Coastline and the southern coast of France. He met - and cooked for - actor Denzel Washington, Golden Globe winner Debbie Allen and her husband Norm Nixon, a former NBA basketball player.
...Lampo sailed the world over. Alaska. Australia. New Zealand. The Kingdom of Tonga. The Kermadec Islands. British Columbia. Singapore. The islands of Fiji and Solomon. And parts of Indonesia. He's made sushi for Michael Douglas. He has also served Dennis Hopper, Robert De Niro, Mick Jagger, Yoko Ono and models Elle Macpherson and Naomi Campbell.
... Lampo has had some incredible experiences: seeing glaciers in Alaska, watching a tribal canoe launching ritual, surviving three hurricanes (on a yacht) and befriending village children in Papua new Guinea... So when he came back to Bryan to spend some time with his family, the timing seemed to be right for another one of his dreams...(Christopher's World Grille).
... Lampo states, 'Food is a way people can indulge themselves and not worry about it. It's a way to get adventure, to escape, experience new things and feel comfortable.'"
Summer Sojourns
Riviera Respite: The Joys of Season's End on the Cote D'Azur
by Barry Pickthall - March 1996
"The Cote D'Azur has a great deal to commend it... Nice, with its deep-water port, is the charter capital for many of the most prestigious yachts... (including the Fulmara)... The Fulmara's guest book can almost compete with Who's Who. Her English captain, Sydney Smith, is one of the most experienced in the Mediterranean.
... Another area (of the Fulmara) that could not be faulted was the fine food abroad. Christopher Lampo, the American master chef hails from Texas and takes as much pride in presentation as he does in preparing each day's fare. Before taking to the ocean, Christopher studied the finer culinary arts under some of the best chefs in the US, including the present Chef de Cuisine at the White House."
Cruising Yachtsman
Classic Yacht, Classic Destination - 1996
"Fulmara, the classic 150 motor-yacht built in 1930 for a San Francisco paper magnate, and now fully restored after a winter refit in Cannes, is open for charter in the Western Mediterranean this summer . . .
Christopher Lampo, the American master chef who hails from Texas and trained under the present Chef de Cuisine at the White House, is back on board for a second season...(The Fulamara's) rates are $56,000 per week in July and August; $49,000 per week other summer months."
Reviews
The New York Times
Friday, September 22, 2006
36 Hours in College Station by Finn-Olaf Jones
"Presidential Brunch - When former President Bush comes to town to visit his presidential library, his meals are catered by Christopher Lampo, unless Mr. Bush just shows up at Mr. Lampo's restaurant, Christopher's World Grille, a 1913 former ranch house on the north edge of town with carved Victorian mirrors and leopard-print rugs. The brunch itself - specialties like chilaquiles (scrambled eggs on green salsa-tossed tortilla chips), chili-crusted crayfish salad and a bananas Foster French toast - will make you want to yell yeehaw, though you won't want to jeopardize your chance of being served the house's excellent bloody Marys and mimosas."
Texas Monthly Magazine
November 2004, Dining Guide
"Renovated and revamped, this 100-year-old farmhouse houses a jazzy, upscale dining spot where chef-owner Christopher Lampo's menu is making an impression far beyond the city's borders. The evening's hits included almond-crusted brie with apricot-mango chutney and jalapeno-and-basil-rubbed shrimp atop spinach-portobello enchiladas. Milder pecan-crusted chicken came stuffed with smoked queso fresco, spinach, and roasted tomato. No words can describe the beauty of the fresh-berry napoleon with thin almond pralines, white chocolate mouse, and a bevy of berries tossed in Grand Marnier."
