Photo by Shane Leonard
Photo by Shane Leonard
That’s Italian
Cinque Terre in Portland is a long way from the Italian Riviera, but it’s easy to forget once you taste that first bite. Lee Skawinski, its executive chef and co-owner, thinks that’s benissimo.
In Italy, the famous Cinque Terre is made up of five coastal villages along the Riviera. Portland’s Cinque Terre restaurant, patrons say, evokes both the flavors and the leisurely dining experience you would find in villages like Vernazza, Corniglia, or Riomaggiore.
This is by design. Lee Skawinski, executive chef and co-owner, has been to Italy more than 20 times, sometimes bringing his kitchen and front of the house staff along with him. “I wanted them all to see firsthand where I was coming from in regards to food, my vision, and my direction for Cinque Terre.”
Skawinski had his first foray into a professional kitchen at age 13, when he was asked by the guy whose lawn he mowed, Chef Mat Allanos, if he was interested in washing dishes at his restaurant in the Lake Winnipesaukee region of New Hampshire.
Allanos had trained at the famed Culinary Institute of America in New York City, and was, by both birth and intent, a French chef. The summers Skawinski spent under Allanos’s wing were inspiring and progressive. “Allanos was a Wall Street guy for years, and it was later in life that he found his passion for cooking,” Skawinski says.
Allanos and his crew were doing things that were quite passé in the late 1970s—such as cutting up whole lamb from a local source and using every part of the precious commodity, including the bones. Skawinski follows this train of thought today.
After graduating from high school, Skawinski went west—all the way—to Santa Barbara, California. “I lived with a whole bunch of cooks, all working daily to prove ourselves worthy, and hopefully to get to the next level in our respective restaurants’ kitchens,” he says. On his days off, Skawinski and his roommates would frequent the local farmers markets and cook up communal meals for each other. Skawinski credits working for famed Chef Michel Richard at Citronelle in Santa Barbara as a critical part of his training during this time.
While exciting, Skawinski’s stint in California came to a close in 1986 when he was accepted into the culinary program at Newbury College, just outside of Boston,
Massachusetts. “My memories of Newbury are of getting a great foundation,” he says, “both because of the quality of the program, and because of what I put into the process as a student—just like anything else in life.”
After earning his culinary degree, Skawinski started adding to his personal repertoire. “I spent some time working on Cape Cod, and then I got the itch to see Europe,” he says. “I made my first trip to Italy in the fall of 1987. I wasn’t even 21 and I was trying to figure out the European food thing.”
With a college degree and a trip to Italy in his back pocket, Skawinski was hired at the Four Seasons in Boston, where he worked alongside Chef David Blessing from 1992 to ’95. “It was a constant learning experience,” Skawinski says.
Fortunately for Maine foodies, Skawinski’s wife’s job brought the couple north. He landed a position at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport and quickly became charmed by his New England surroundings.
Cinque Terre was born from Skawinski’s friendship with a physician and gentleman farmer named Dan Kary. “Our business relationship started with conversations on what Kary can grow and what I would make with it,” Skawinski says. The synergy of agricultural and culinary abilities became the seeds of Cinque Terre.
Over the past decade, the Wharf Street restaurant has earned bravos from reviewers from GQ to the Food Network. Most fitting of all, given its roots: Cinque Terre was recently named one of the Top 10 Farm-to-Table Restaurants in the U.S. by Epicurious magazine.
Eating at Cinque Terre is ideally an experience with five acts—four courses plus dessert—accompanied by remarkable wine pairings (the restaurant offers 100 Italian wines), so it is not for the impatient.
But then again, neither is Italy.
Gnocci • Serves 4
2 ¼¾ pounds potatoes
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 egg, lightly beaten
Kosher Salt
Steam the potatoes for 25 minutes or until tender, then mash with a potato masher or vegetable ricer while they are still hot. Stir in the flour, egg and a pinch of kosher salt and knead to a soft, elastic dough. Be careful with the ratio of potato to flour: if there is too much potato, they tend to disintegrate while cooking. Shape the dough into long ropes, 2/3 inch in diameter and cut into 3/4 inch lengths. Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a boil; add the gnocchi in batches of a few at a time, and remove with a slotted spoon as they rise and float on the surface. Drain gnocchi and incorporate with rest of ingredients to complete dish.
½ pound organic spinach
1 large carrot, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 medium white onion, diced
1 cup cured pancetta, diced
6 tbsp. butter
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Over medium heat in a large sauté pan, sweat the diced carrot, celery, and onion in the 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add pancetta and render down the fat over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then toss in spinach and cook for an additional minute. Add 3 tablespoons butter and melt until browned, followed by the balsamic vinegar. When gnocchi are fully cooked and drained add to sauté pan and toss gently. Spoon onto plate or platter and serve. Sprinkle with the fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
You must log in to post a comment.