They say you can’t go home again, but try telling that to Chef Chris Cosentino ’94, whose whirlwind return to JWU Providence after 18 years included visits to his former South Hall room, his old kitchen-classrooms (now completely redone), and even Delaney Gym, where JWU used to hold Distinguished Visiting Chef (DVC) presentations.
Now the “Top Chef Masters” winner and restaurateur (his West Coast restaurants include Cockscomb, Acacia House and Jackrabbit PDX) is being lauded as a DVC himself — the 183rd. Speaking to a packed amphitheater filled with aspiring chefs, he can’t quite get over JWU’s evolution in those intervening years. He’s particularly enamored of the Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence, with its gleaming equipment and 360° views: “It’s like ‘Star Trek,’ it’s so different now!”
Cosentino grew up in a family where food “superseded family feuds, politics and religion.” His love of Old World Italian flavors and off-cuts was inspired by his great-grandmother, Rosalie — today, his own trippa Napoletana recipe pays homage to her deft cooking. (Ironically, he hated it as a kid.)…Click to read more