Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter
Chef Vito Rossi showing off his real Italian pizza made with mushrooms, strips of pork, onions, cheese - all packed on a thin yet scrumptious crust. - photo by Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore
Chef Vito Rossi loves simple cooking for himself, but with his magic fingers he can make anything into a delectable meal.
At age 13, he realised his love for cooking and began experimenting with food. From then he knew it was his destiny to become a chef. Also after observing his mother, Marcia Grazia in the kitchen, he picked up a few tips here and there.
Thus, his first food creation was one of his mother's recipes, a fettuccine, made of bacon chips, onions, pepper, tomatoes, cheese and white wine. It turned out well as he had a natural knack for cooking, he pointed out.
Cooking journey
The 29-year-old chef told Food that it was at the age of 16 that he started his cooking journey. During that same period he was a student at the Institute Of Culinary Arts of Amatricia near Rome in Italy being guided by Sergio Coraretti. Chef Rossi moved on to become chef de partie at the Rome Chavalieri Hilton in Italy. As a chef at the Hilton in Italy, he was invited to Jamaica by the Hilton Kingston hotel in Kingston for Italy week early this year.
The chef attributes his success to the patience of his wife, Christina, as, he said, his job is demanding, with long hours. But he added that he gets two days off each week which he spends with her and his son, Simone. "We take the time to do things together like, go to the beach, shopping and do father-son activities with my son. I have to make up for the five days I am absent," said Chef Rossi.
His passion: Creating new dishes that give people a new experience in food every time.
Favourite dish:Risotto with shrimp, flour with zucchini, serve with basil tomato leaves and Parmesan cheese.
What he cooks at home: I love to cook anything and eat anything but prepare a nice grill steak. Also I will cook pasta or rice everything in white with a little butter very simple. I like simple cooking.
Different Cuisine: I can cook any French or European cooking but now learning Jamaican.
