Chris Scornaienchi
Food is our common ground, it is universal. -James Beard
As soon as Chris was able to hold a spoon, his Italian grandmother had him in the kitchen learning to prepare meals. Chris decided that through culinary endeavors he would show his culinary genius.
Armed with a virtual decade of training before he had even hit high school, Chris began cooking professionally at thirteen in a French cafe, helping to make sausages, ratatouille, and other traditional dishes. Even at this young age he understood that the eagerness with which he to went to work was noteworthy, an that food was something he had a passion for, and frankly a talent for preparing.
Having grown up in multicultural Oakland, Chris was raised in an environment that embraced diversity and freedom of expression. It was because of this openness that Chris became keen on exploring the bigger culinary world beyond the cafe and his grandmother's old country kitchen. The next logical step was for him to set out and find his place in the world at large.
A natural companion to food is travel, and with his adventurer's spirit Chris has traversed a good part of the globe. Whether it was heading a neo soul kitchen in the hear of South Beach, or learning how to use herbs as a foundation for aphrodisiacs in Thailand, Chris' two passions were able to merge seamlessly.
Over the years Chris has been able to hone his culinary skills as a caterer, pastry chef, menu consultant, and private chef. Chris has worked as a chef and executive chef in restaurants that ranged in style from French Provencal to Nouvell Californian and Cal Asian. A stint at Mary Sue Miliken and Susan Feniger's famed City Restaurant proved a turning point. The had put into practice a style that Chris has developed innately, mixing ingredients from faraway places and thus blending different cuisines into one. For Chis this was an exciting revelation. He realized that he did not have to be fluent in the actual regions he was pulling from, that he need only honor the spirit of the dish. It also provided proof that the world was ready to experience a bold new way of eating that reflected the global melting pot that we've become. Soon thereafter Chris expanded his repertoire to include recipes that mixed lands as diverse as Southeast Asia and Southern Italy in the same dish. For example, his risotto made with vanilla-cognac basted lobster and coconut milk, instead of the de rigeur heavy cream, offers the best of two of his favorite places. This epiphany birthed Chris' "flair for fusion" and is the origin of his signature style.