Basil Council Member Domenic Battistella learned to cook at the side of his Mother and Grandmother from the time he was five. He found himself internalizing an emotional connection between food and family, and growing up with his Polish and Italian ethnicity led him to appreciate, and then replicate, complicated Mediterranean and Slavic flavors. By the time he was ten years old, Domenic was already baking cookies by himself in the family kitchen. At eighteen, he entered the professional kitchen and then enrolled in the Le Cordon Bleu program at the Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover, New Hampshire in January 2001. Moving south to take an intern position at Upstream restaurant under Chef Tom Condron in 2002, Domenic made Charlotte, North Carolina his home. This position led to becoming the opening sous chef at Blue, Charlotte’s premier Mediterranean restaurant.

At twenty-five years old, Chef Domenic seized the opportunity to take the next step in his career by leaving Blue to open Red Rocks Café in Huntersville, North Carolina as it’s executive chef. Red Rocks Café opened it’s doors in September 2003 and has since become the region’s favorite destination for professional athletes, international and local celebrities, and multi-national business executives. He believes in giving back to the community and enjoys working with Second Harvest Food Bank of Charlotte, through “Taste of the NFL” and “Taste of the Nation” and The March of Dimes, “Chef’s Auction.”

Chef Domenic has honed his cooking style into what he calls “new America cuisine with a southern accent.” He melds various flavor profiles of American regional and international dishes and processes them through a filter of southern ingredients and culinary traditions. He has made several regional and local television appearances and is known for being one of the southeast’s most talented chefs for his advanced and contemporary food pairings with wine and craft brews.

“I believe in food for food’s sake and not as a mean to a broader artistic statement. I use the freshest ingredients and honor those ingredients by showcasing their natural flavor and essence. Whether I use traditional cooking methods or modern techniques such as molecular manipulation, rapid freezing, or high pressure/low temperature cooking, the goal remains the same: to maximize flavor. Artistic presentation is a bi-product of making intelligent choices in a dish’s conception, and is not a substitute for proper seasoning and texture. There is no excuse for lazy execution and perfecting taste is always my top priority.”

 

 

Executive Chef

Red Rocks Café

Email: dmbattistella@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.redrockscafe.com/

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