Dante Boccuzzi: Restaurant Dante

By JULIETTE ROSSANT What do you do after you've worked for two of the biggest Super Chefs? Super Chef posed that question to Dante Boccuzzi while he was still executive chef of Charlie Palmer's New York flagship Aureole. He already opened Armani/Nobu's in Milan and been an executive chef at Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco. Super Chef finally learned his response: go home. Dante found an offer to good to refuse in his hometown of Cleveland, OH, and opened Restaurant Dante in a space that had been Lockkeepers, with the previous restaurant's owners as partners. SC: Why did you decide to open in Cleveland? Boccuzzi: Being in NY was tiring - the whole thing - the pressure of running Aureole. Charlie [Palmer] was demanding. I was commuting 2 ½ hours a day from Long Island. There was stress from all angles…I was getting the point with Charlie that we had different views on things. It was time to move on before our relationship was affected. But I didn't want to be in same situation, and work for another chef. I was in touch with the previous owners here and they put together a great deal. We live 10 minutes away. SC: What are the advantages of being outside New York? Boccuzzi: We tripled the size of our house for the same price. It is in a cul de sac with plenty of room for our kids. You can find it NY, but it isn't easy. SC: Do you think that there is a trend among young chefs who train in New York, LA or Chicago are opening up outside? Boccuzzi: I don't know if it’s a trend; it's more logical and it makes more sense. All these guys – Daniel, Jean-George, Charlie - are giants. When I first worked in NY, Aureole was Charlie's only restaurant. Jean-Georges just at Jo-Jo, Daniel just had Daniel. They all had one restaurant. Now they suck up PR. Daniel or Jean-Georges are in the papers every week. They have stuff to write about. But for the smaller guys or up-and-coming chefs, it's more difficult. There is Andrew Carmellini, he is doing well. He is from same town [Cleveland]. He even looked at this place. He found a different opportunity that he felt comfortable with. SC: In terms of financing, was money available in Cleveland? Boccuzzi: There is more opportunity. Money is available anywhere, but the opportunity is here. There were not a whole lot of other great restaurants in Cleveland besides Michael Symon's, and he won Iron Chef. The economy is the same as everywhere else, plus we get a three-foot snowstorm. But it is not like I am fighting the guy two doors down. SC: What are you trying to do at Restaurant Dante? Boccuzzi: It is the same kind of experience as you can have at Aureole, but it is customized for Cleveland, for their expectation. Though there are changes, it is the same kind of food that I did at Aureole: Modern American Cuisine. It’s a melting pot of all the different places I traveled, the different chefs I worked for, my heritage, it's always changing. We have a huge pasta section on menu, homemade pastas, everything is home made, cooked to order. I make homemade charcuterie. We have lots of space that we didn't have at Aureole. I have a wine room I use to cure in. Sausages, lamb Prosciutto, duck. I grew up in Parma, Ohio and I brand my logo on the Prosciutto, it's called Parma Town Prosciutto. There is a mall out there is called Parma Town. The locals get a kick out it. In a couple of weeks I am starting up Sushi night, Sushi Blues. I will have a two-piece blues band, and I will be at the bar making sushi. I will make fun stuff we used to do at Nobu, and sometimes I will join the band. There isn't a whole lot of sushi in Cleveland. SC: Is finding talent an issue? Boccuzzi: It is a challenge. There is no cooking school close by. The one in own is not the CIA. But then you are getting someone you can train. When you hire someone in NY they don't listen and respond as well some time. When I opened up I brought managers with me: a sommelier, an assistant, and a sous chef all from Aureole. I had a team who knew what I wanted. If I had to explain to someone from here, it might not have worked. I probably have three to four headwaiters who were GM elsewhere. That is the quality of the person we have to hire. Some showed up thinking they would be an assistant GM, we do everything NY style, its very different….they can't walk in and perform very easily. SC: Do you have plans to be Super Chef? Boccuzzi: There is not necessarily the master plan, I can see that after a while you look for a new challenge. Once this place is running smoothly, you open up a new place. I am not opposed to it, but it's not the master plan. I would do it here in town, I don't see myself flying all over the world. That is cool. Dante has written a cookbook and is talking to publishers. He has plans to make a TV cooking show for children with Robert De Niro's wife. He has designed tableware that will be launched soon. Don't be surprised to see him opening up new restaurants in the next few years. He maybe in Cleveland, but he has ambition. Previous articles: [Chef Profiles - complete] [Local Heroes - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Dante Boccuzzi --> back to Super Chef