Meet my friend Chef Ricco DeLuca
Once at a wedding in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, I befriended a chef by the name of Ricco Deluca. Ricco graduated high school the same year I did and upon graduation went to cooking school where I went to college. He's spent the past 30 years working in restaurants while playing in the stock market as a hobby while I spent a good portion of those years working on Wall Street and cooking as a hobby. Minutes after meeting we knew there was a connection and became friends.
Raised by an Italian family of cooks, Ricco has forgotten more about cooking than I ever hope to learn. Years ago, I spent an incredible weekend in Massachusetts where Ricco was cooking and watched him dazzle me with his cooking skills. It was a learning experience that I'll never forget. Now that I am back on the east coast, I call him more often to say hello, talk about food and always end up asking for a recipe or technique. He happily takes the time to explain in detail just how a particular dish should be prepared. I've even been able to convince him to fax me some of his favorite recipes including Aglio-Olio (Garlic and Oil)
"Food is a great way to spend time with the people
you love, its fun and
interesting and you learn
every
time
you cook so keep plugging and keep it simple."
Chef Ricco DeLuca
At the age of 5 Ricco began helping his mom make the homemade pasta. By age 13 he was working as a pizza cook at the neighborhood pizza joint The Eastside Cafe. Ricco says this place still to this day makes one of the best pizzas on earth.
Ricco then attended culinary trade school but most of his training came from working with high end chefs which earned him a full scholarship to Cordon Bleu in France but because of the Vietnam draft, he didn't attend.
Favorite ingredients: fresh herbs and spices
Favorite kitchen gadget: a twelve inch kitchen knife.
Ricco is now executive chef at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts where people of all ages, races and social background go to study Shakespeare.
