Executive Chef Frank Caputo
Susan Knox Wilson
Maybe you read about him in O Magazine? Saw him on the Discovery Channel series Great Chefs of the South, his interview on CNN, or any one of his many other TV appearances? Well, now you can meet him in person, right here in PebbleCreek, on almost any day of the week, because Frank Caputo is our new Executive Chef!
As comfortable cooking on television as he is in the kitchen, Chef Frank has a passion and a love for food that he is eager to share. That passion comes from his roots as the grandson of Italian farmers and the son of Italian immigrants who built and ran a neighborhood restaurant in their new hometown, Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
Growing up Frank spent his summers working on his grandparents’ farm in Calabria (in southern Italy) and during the school year, working at his parents’ restaurant. “I was an early adopter of the farm to table concept,” jokes Chef Frank. “I farmed every summer, then bussed tables the rest of the year. But seriously, growing up in such a traditional and passionate culture — surrounded by a large, extended family, wonderful food and wine — is what instilled my love for this business.”
After graduating from high school Frank went to work at a nearby “swanky Italian restaurant that catered to movie stars, mobsters and high rollers.” Working there changed Frank’s way of thinking about the restaurant business and he was motivated to learn how to cook all kinds of cuisines, discover cooking techniques, how to run a kitchen and manage a dining room. So off he went to the one place to learn all that: The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
In 1989, the same year Frank earned his degree from CIA, one of Frank’s favorite professors left teaching to start a new company, Hospitality Concepts, Inc., and asked Frank to join him. The startup opened a dazzling number of new enterprises including a restaurant, a pub, a night club, a banquet facility and a country club. From there Frank went on to work as Executive Chef for a number of clubs including the Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina and the Naples (Florida) National Golf Club. Most recently Chef Frank was Executive Chef and Director of Culinary at Western Regional Medical Center/Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA).
At CTCA, Chef Frank famously transformed 69 acres of neighboring cotton fields into an organic farm, providing fresh produce for the hospital kitchens. While he confides he hasn’t yet asked to plant an organic garden in PebbleCreek, Chef Frank says he will continue to source fresh, local, organic food. He also plans on sharing his passion for good food with tips in the Cheers! Newsletter and, come this fall, putting on cooking classes, cooking demonstrations and classes on nutrition. Foodies rejoice!