in the kitchen

Pride of Parma: Dante Boccuzzi

Tastemaker: Dante Boccuzzi, Executive Chef/Owner, Dante; 8001 Rockside Road, Valley View; 216-524-9404; www.danteboccuzzi.com

Photographs by Michael McDermott

Ivan J. Sheehan: You’re a respected chef, and an avid guitarist and musician, so would you feel more comfortable being interviewed by a national guitar publication or a well-known culinary magazine?

DB: Definitely culinary. Guitar and music is another passion, a hobby I have. But, I’m definitely a way better chef than I am a guitarist.

IJS: And cooking ultimately put you in contact with Eric Clapton, one of your guitar heroes.

DB: Through cooking, I’ve been able to meet a lot of cool people. It was cool; it was definitely nerve-wracking. That night I went to the [Clapton] concert, and then he was coming to [Nobu in Milan, Italy] for dinner. I knew that ahead of time, so before the encore, I raced back to the restaurant. He had dinner with Giorgio Armani and all his entourage. It was cool because years back, Clapton gave Armani an acoustic guitar. So that night, Armani signed this guitar and gave it back to Clapton. And then, Clapton wrote something on it again, and gave it back to Armani. The next thing I know, everybody had left, and there’s this guitar sitting on the table, and I’m the only one in the restaurant. I was looking at this [guitar], thinking, okay, I could take this home, and Giorgio Armani would probably freak out… or, I could just play it now, and turn it in Monday morning. So, that’s what I did – played this autographed Clapton guitar.

IJS: What do you see as the similarities between guitar and cooking?

DB: One similarity would be writing songs; whether you’re writing a tune or writing the lyrics, it’s the same thing as writing a recipe. Whether you realize it or not, you pull from some kind of influence that you’ve had, whether it’s a group you’ve listened to through the years, or a chef you’ve worked with. So, you pull from these influences… For myself, sometimes, it either comes to me, and I’m real creative and I can write a bunch of songs; or, same thing, I can sit down and write a whole bunch of menus and dishes, and it’s just real easy. But, sometimes, I have a writer’s block kind of thing where I just can’t come up with the right dish or the right combination that makes sense.

IJS: Cooking wasn’t something you always envisioned doing, correct?

DB: When I was in high school in ’89, I went to [Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] in Cuyahoga Falls – from Parma, I commuted every day. It was a little far. Through high school, I worked at this restaurant, Stancato’s. It was fun, being involved, the whole adrenaline kind of thing. Then, when it came time to graduate, it was either going into construction with my uncle and grandfather and stuff, which I did on the side, and I helped them out all the time. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t [a] passion. But cooking, it just seemed fun, seemed like something to pursue. So, I went to the [Culinary Institute of America] to check it out, took a tour.

IJS: Do you feel as though CIA prepared you for real-world, top-kitchen restaurant experience?

DB: When I went there, I was definitely ignorant of everything, it seemed like: Cuisines of the world, proper ways of dining, the restaurant scene, famous chefs at that time – I was oblivious to all of that. It opened up my eyes. From there, the doors opened up, the contacts. And that’s what this industry is – someone you know, who worked for this chef, so you call this guy… Here, it’s pretty small. It seems like everybody knows each other.

IJS: Do you find it amusing that today the chefs themselves are the celebrities?

DB: I go to this store over here, up the street – Restaurant Depot. I do this TV show every Sunday, Browns Tailgate, so I do the tailgate recipe of the week. Every time I go to this store, I get attacked: “Oh my god, it’s Dante! This guy’s a celebrity!” This guy goes crazy. I’m like, “Dude – I’m just a guy.” I don’t consider myself a celebrity chef. Michael Symon, now, with what he’s accomplished, that’s big.

IJS: Could you ever see yourself as a Michael Symon-level public figure? Is that something you would embrace?

DB: Sure, I’ll gladly do it, if it ever happens. If I had my own show, like Mario [Batali], that would be cool. But those guys, that’s a step higher, that’s celebrity. Granted, my name is out there, and every once in a while, I’ll Google myself just to see what the hell is going on. I get a lot of hits, and it’s good, boosts the ego a little bit. But, one time it really hit me, I was either in California or met somebody from California, who was in town [New York] … and he knew of me… He was talking about me earlier that week [in his California office]. That was cool.

IJS: After graduating from CIA, did you move straight to New York City?

DB: My roommate and I, we were both from Cleveland, we got an apartment, and we both worked at pretty big-name restaurants. I went to [Charlie Palmer’s] Aureole restaurant. That was my first [job].

IJS: Was Palmer your greatest mentor?

DB: Definitely. I’ve been with him, off and on, for 15 years. Even now, he’s the person I go to when I need advice… That was a hell of an experience. That was his only restaurant, and he was there every day. I learned a lot as far as cooking… And then through the years of working with him, I learned the business aspect. And then, once I was running Aureole, even more of the business side of it. He’s been a huge impact.

IJS: What made you part ways?

DB: New York was just getting tiring, just commuting every day and the whole demand of running a restaurant of that caliber, of that reputation. There’s a lot of stress, and a lot of pressure either from [Palmer], or from the customers. We were starting to butt heads on things, too. I was growing as a chef… Rather than ruining our relationship, I just started looking and stumbled on this project, here.

IJS: In between, you have done stints all over the world, including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

DB: That was even before Aureole. A lot of those travels were when I was working at Silks, because it’s a Mandarin Oriental company, so they sent me to their sister properties in Hong Kong. The owners had a hotel in Taiwan.

IJS: How long were you in the Far East?

DB: I went there twice. Once, was for a month – a month in Taiwan. It was cool. I stayed there for 31 days, and they almost wouldn’t let me leave because I overstayed the visa. So, I got stamped on the visa that I wasn’t allowed to return for two years or something, because I overstayed one day. It wasn’t even my fault!

IJS: Did those experiences really open your eyes to new culinary opportunities?

DB: Definitely. On every trip that I’ve done, I have some kind of notebook, definitely pictures, but some kind of recipe, reference. Even if I don’t know how they made it, just stuff I saw. Something that is authentic to that area.

IJS: Is there anything that sticks out in your memory from those experiences?

DB: In Taiwan I had rooster balls – that definitely left an impression in my mind. It tastes like chicken. They’re pretty big for a bird – I was surprised! It was interesting. You had to eat two, otherwise it was bad luck. And, they didn’t tell you that until you ate the first one… Just the whole way of life, everything is different, the way people think, the way people do things.

IJS: When was your first trip to Italy?

DB: After school, I worked at Aureole for two years. Then from there, I went to Europe for about two years. So, I spent most of the time in Italy, six months in France, six months in London.

IJS: And your wife is Italian.

DB: We actually met in London. She’s from Milan. She went to London to learn English. So, I was staying in a hotel room. We had one double bed, and there were four of us sleeping in it. We did that for about a week, and then I got us an apartment. But, I lived with all these Italian guys, and then my wife worked with these guys at this restaurant. Eventually, we all moved in together, and there were like eight of us in this two-bedroom apartment.

IJS: Where in Italy did you work?

DB: I was in Sardinia for two seasons, summer seasons. I worked in Rome for a little bit. I worked in a bread factory, a panetteria. In Milan, I worked [for Gualtiero] Marchesi [in the Albereta Hotel’s restaurant]. His restaurant is outside of Milan … I worked there for about a month. He was one of the first famous Italian chefs to get a Michelin star.

IJS: Did you find you identified most with the Italian cooking style and techniques?

DB: Probably, yes, because of my family and being around it. This was more authentic; you learned the real deal. When I worked in France, I related to that because of my training at the CIA in New York. In Italy, I probably learned the most from my mother-in-law. For a while, I just stayed at [my wife’s] house, and she would go to work, and I just hung out with her parents.

IJS: Did your mother-in-law teach you any dishes that you’ve taken with you, adapted into your own?

DB: Pizzoccheri. It’s a great winter dish, so I can’t forget about it this year. It’s these buckwheat noodles, and you bake it with potatoes, cabbage, garlic, fontina cheese – it’s like this big casserole. It’s good. That’s the first time I’ve seen that.

IJS: Was the decision to move back to Cleveland a difficult one?

DB: At first I didn’t consider Cleveland. I was looking at some wineries. I figured, it would be a good way of life: cooking at the winery, learning how to make wine, it’s got to be great weather most of the year. But, I just didn’t find the right situation. I was looking around the Virginia area anyway, and once again, there wasn’t anything that sounded good. Then, I was in touch with the owner here… He made the proposal for this, and here we are. It wasn’t easy, but it was good. It took a little convincing: myself, my wife, everybody.

IJS: Do you feel as though you have a best dish, one that you’d make for someone you really wanted to impress?

DB: I’d do a warm tuna and foie gras terrine. It’s one of my best. It’s one I’m proud of, kind of like a signature dish. I came up with that in California. I didn’t come up with the food combination; other people have done it. But, it’s a beautiful presentation, I think. And the textures, it’s warm, and the flavors come together really nice. It’s rich. It’s good.

IJS: How did you get into curing your own meats?

DB: When I was at Aureole, when I worked there as a cook, we used to do a charcuterie plate, and it was different terrines: chicken liver mousse, foie gras terrine, pork country pâté and a duck sausage. I would make that dish in the garde manger position. That was one of the things that I prepped. When I went back there as a chef, the dish idea was long gone. So, I said, “Why don’t we start doing something like that?” And we started making all this stuff, all these sausages, and then it just started growing and growing. And, in New York, there’s no space to cure it or dry it, so it was this whole big headache. So, we’d cure it with the wood in the wine cellar, which was this closet, and the sommelier would get changed in there, so his clothes stunk like salami. It was this whole big argument. So, when I came here, that was the first thing in my mind, especially because this place is so big. We do it in the wine cellar, but it’s a wide-open space. One of the first things I did [was have] my uncle make a charcuterie cart, so everything hangs there and cures, and it’s got the air blowing on it.

IJS: Are there any foods you don’t like?

DB: Coconut. I can’t stand coconut. I’ll use it once in a while in a sauce, when it’s not predominant. I’ll eat it, but a Mounds bar or something like that grosses me out. Raw coconut, I can’t have it. I’m not a big uni fan.

IJS: Do you have any favorite foods, things that are always in your pantry?

DB: I love potatoes. It’s such a versatile vegetable, there’s so many things you can do. Something like a simple purée with a lot of butter. I like any confit – rich, fatty – duck, pork, or whatever. I love chocolate, but it’s got to be a good, creamy chocolate dessert.

IJS: If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?

DB: If I wasn’t married with kids, definitely music. Being married with kids, there’s a lot more responsibility, bills to be paid, so I can’t afford to be careless.

IJS: But you’ve still managed to record two albums.

DB: The first CD is pretty good, but the second one is more improved, more a complete record, complete thoughts, and that’s the Parmatown one. It’s about growing up in Parma. All the lyrics I wrote, so it’s kind of a small-town, small-mind mentality, so I don’t know if it’s a tribute to Parma.

IJS: It seems as though maybe you belong in Cleveland even more so than you realize.

DB: Maybe, yeah. Probably. It’s fun. I’m having a lot of fun. In New York, it’s tiring going to work, but here, I like going. I’m only 10 minutes away, and that makes life easier.