An Introduction

An overview; 25 years in a few lines. Born a handful of miles north of Boston, Massachusetts, into an Italian-American, blue-collar family of 7, my parents, and 4 brothers. At age 3, I began my first career, as I like to call it, playing amateur, competitive ice hockey. I grew up side-by-side with the most talented players in the U.S. and played with great success throughout North America. After 21 years of chasing the elusive dream of professional sports, I buried my skates in the basement to forge on into my second career as an aspiring chef.

After years of working in independent quick-service restaurants (pizzerias, delicatessens, sandwich shops, seafood take-out, etcetera) I studied at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island and am completing my bachelors degree in Culinary Arts with an apprenticeship in Orvieto, Umbria (about an hour outside of Rome). In my journey, I have found my interests relate to more the holistic nature of food, unscathed by the technologies we have developed which are growing more harmful to our bodies and to the earth which we depend upon. The sustainable agriculture movement, in combination with the slow food movement have been the motivation behind my growth and research thus far in my young career, and with the current political and economic dilemmas in perspective, I believe this will be the new direction for every facet of business in the coming years. I'm proud to currently be employed by an organization that implements these ideals and is helping to raise the standard and expectations of the restaurant industry. I am currently cooking at Relais & Chateaux rated Castle Hill Inn & Resort in Newport, Rhode Island and consider myself a commis ("coh-mee", an apprentice, or in my words, a student of food) although my title reflects otherwise based on my educational background and brief industry experience. Here I am exposed to food in its pure beauty, organic Elysian Fields Farm lamb, natural, grass fed Hereford beef, locally harvested produce, fresh New England Atlantic fish and minimal use of ingredients using the "international community" perspective. It is true that some products are only attainable from certain parts of the world, and perhaps it makes me slightly hypocritical, but food is a work of love and passion, and sometimes the lines are crossed as a result.

Reading:
The River Cottage Cookbook, The River Cottage Meatbook - Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall
The Whole Beast - Fergus Henderson
The French Laundry Cook Book - Thomas Keller
Art Culinaire - quarterly subscription
Food Arts - monthly subscription

...and a list of others on the wish list, but I'm working with what I can for the time being.

I'm a new blogger, so hopefully this opens a new door, for both my own venue of thought and creativity, as well as insights shared by those who may stumble across this diatribe and share their own views with me.

Salute. Go Slow, Stay Local.