“We are a Sicilian family, we are all about food!” Chef Tony DiSalvo emphasizes as he describes his years growing up in New York. “Good food was everything, and everyone got involved.”
In 2004, Chef DiSalvo moved to San Diego from the east coast with his wife, Andrea and their young daughter, Isabella, to become a partner and Executive Chef at Jack’s dining room in La Jolla. Within a very short period of time his creative preparation and artful presentation gained him a reputation as one of the finest new chefs in our region.
Despite the fact that he spends countless hours in the commercial kitchen, he still enjoys preparing food with his own family. “Usually Asian or Italian,” DiSalvo says. “My daughter even likes sushi!” He adds with a proud grin.
But this is nothing new; from the very beginning young Tony DiSalvo had a passion for fine cuisine. He began his foray into professional food preparation at a summer job with the Hotel Thayer in Highland Falls, New York, at the tender age of 13.
Shortly after graduating from high school in 1993, Tony entered the Culinary Institute of America where he received an AOS degree in the Culinary Arts Program. During that period, he also worked under world-class chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, at his critically acclaimed restaurants Vong and Jo-Jo.
Tony graduated from the CIA in 1995, after which he took a position at New York’s La Goulue under the tutelage and mentorship of renowned chef, Philippe Schmidt. His association lasted just over a year and the young chef to the art of preparing classic French-Mediterranean cuisine.
Chef DiSalvo then moved on to Gramercy Tavern where, under the guidance of Tom Colicchio, he learned the skills necessary to become a true ‘New York chef’. He learned the importance of utilizing top quality ingredients, and was also able to forge strong, ongoing relationships with local farmers and growers to insure that only the finest quality products would be used in his kitchen. Before relocating to the west coast, he returned to work with Chef Vongerichten and his flagship restaurant, Jeans-Georges in New York’s Trump Tower.
Today, Chef Tony DiSalvo wows his dining guests with such eclectic dishes as Muscovy Duck Breast in kumquat confiture, an exotic Jidori Chicken simmered in a pineapple-cardamom broth with Thai basil gnocchi and a delicate, steamed Atlantic black sea bass served with caviar. His innovative dishes are one of the primary, driving forces behind the success of Jack’s dining room in La Jolla; and for this fact we are all the richer.