Riccardo DeLuca's Linkedin Analytics

Growing up in a traditional Italian family, Chef Riccardo DeLuca's life revolved around food. For him, becoming was a Chef was not so much a choice as a calling. He received his first lessons at his mother- Antonia DeLuca's kitchen. Herself an accomplished Chef, Mrs. DeLuca would eventually hire Chef Riccardo to work at her restaurants in the Berkshires and later in California. His first job, at the age of twelve, was at the Pittsfield Rye Bakery. Shortly thereafter, he was sent to work at East Side Cafe in Pittsfield. He graduated from Taconic High School with a major in Culinary Arts and won a scholarship the the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu in France. Chef Ricco, as he likes to be called, had to defer his acceptance on account of the ongoing Vietnam war in case he was to be drafted. He remained at 'DeLuca's' – the restaurant owned by his mother and was worked, he said, “harder than I'd ever worked before.” After owning and operating several successful restaurants, Chef Ricco went on to an eleven-year stint as Executive Chef at the Five Star Michelin Rated kitchen at Seven Hills Resorts in Lenox, Ma where he can count among his fans: Yo-Yo Ma, Dave Brubeck and Leonard Bernstein to name a few. He was Executive Chef at the Five Star Michelin Rated kitchen at Spaghetti Factory. It was during the late seventies and early eighties that Chef Ricco became interested in concept of 'farm-to-table' dining. To his effect, he was one of the first in the Northeast to own and operate a fully organic farm and restaurant- 'Wild Harvest'. An avid traveller and connoisseur of world cuisines, Chef Ricco has travelled extensively in North and South America. But it was trip to India and Singapore that really captured his attention. Between 2004-2007, he spent time in the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram- a city renowned for its traditions and its food. Given the traditional nature of the society, Chef Ricco had to tailor the Italian menu for the Indian taste buds. Specialties: Italian cuisine, Indian cuisine, Continental cuisine, American cuisine, multi-cuisines