Conant was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. He is the son of Anne Conant and Charles Conant. He is of Italian descent on his mother's side. He began cooking at a young age, taking cooking classes at the local community college at age 11. At 15, he enrolled in W.F. Kaynor Technical High School for culinary arts, and then attended the Culinary Institute of America.
Professional career
While at the CIA, Conant interned at the famous New York City restaurant San Domenico, an experience that had a decisive impact on the young chef. After graduation, he spent a year in Munich, Germany, mastering the art of pastry at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. He returned to the United States and San Domenico, working as a sous chef and helping the restaurant garner three stars from The New York Times. In 1995, Cesare Casella selected him to be chef de cuisine at Il Toscanaccio, an Upper East Side Tuscan-style restaurant. A year later, Conant went on to revamp two institutions: Barolo in SoHo and Chianti on the Upper East Side. Conant then became executive chef at City Eatery, located on the Bowery in New York City. Conant and his modern take on Italian cuisine got the attention of New Yorkers, earning him a loyal following and a glowing two-star review from The New York Times in 2000. In September 2002, Conant opened L'Impero in Tudor City. Within weeks, the restaurant received a rave three-star review from The New York Times, which stated, " turning out dishes full of flavors that are joyous and highly refined. From the simplest preparations to the most complex he is almost always in control and in tune." Gourmet declared that Conant “raises the roof on the Manhattan school of Italian cooking.” A year later, Conant's signature pastas appeared on the cover of Food & Wine, and the magazine went on to name Conant one of America's “Best New Chefs” in 2004. L'Impero received top honors from the James Beard Foundation in 2003, including “Best New Restaurant” in the U.S. and “Outstanding Restaurant Design.” In October 2003, Conant was featured on the cover of Gourmet for its “Chefs Rock” issue, and in March 2004, Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl named L’Impero one of her favorite New York restaurants. Following L’Impero, Conant went on to open Alto, a "sophisticated" Italian restaurant in midtown Manhattan that offered his interpretation of Northern Italian cuisine. Conant's initial television appearances included segments of The Today Show and, in 2007, on Home Shopping Network with a line of cookware, "Scott Conant's Signature Creations." Conant left L'Impero and Alto in 2007, and in 2008 opened a new restaurant, Scarpetta, located in Chelsea, Manhattan. In July 2008, Scarpetta received a positive three-star review from The New York Times and New York Magazine. In November 2008, Scarpetta was named one of the “Best New Restaurants in America” by Esquire magazine. Scarpetta was nominated in early 2009 for "Best New Restaurant in America" by the James Beard Foundation. In November 2008, Conant opened a second restaurant in the Fontainebleau Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Florida, where it received four stars from the Miami Herald. In October 2010, Conant opened Scarpetta in Beverly Hills at the Montage. The Los Angeles Times'' voted Conant Best New Chef in Los Angeles. In July 2010, the reality food-competition television show "24 Hour Restaurant Battle" premiered on the Food Network, starring Conant as the host and head judge. The television show pits two teams of two people against each other as they open up a restaurant from scratch in 24 hours. The show ran two seasons. In December 2010, Conant opened a fourth location of Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. Enoteca, a casual wine bar, both at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. D.O.C.G. Enoteca closed on June 20, 2017. Conant's current ventures include Mora Italian, a modern osteria in Phoenix, Arizona. Most recently, Conant opened Cellaio Steak at Resorts World Catskills in Monticello, New York.
