The Chef’s Table

ZERO RESTAURANT CHEF VINSON PETRILLO

WHERE DOES YOUR FOOD STORY BEGIN?

I’d say my food story began at home. My dad worked a lot and when he was at home we cooked together. I have a big Italian family and Sunday dinners were super important. We started dinner around three in the afternoon and dinner continued until 9 o’clock at night. Everybody was a little bit drunk, a little bit funny, and really, really happy.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB IN THE INDUSTRY?

My first job in the culinary industry was when I was only 15. I had learning disabilities growing up and struggled in school. Because
I struggled I did some stupid things along the way and got kicked out. If I worked, they would allow me to stay in school. I went into a work program and got my first job in a restaurant, at the Parsippany Hilton.

WHERE DID YOU CULINARY JOURNEY BRING YOU FROM THERE?

I wanted to go to culinary school but I did so terrible in school they almost didn't let me in. My only focus was food so I kept trying and eventually got into Johnson and Wales in Providence, RI. I attended for a couple of months, then transferred to the campus in Charleston for more sun and beaches. I worked two jobs, went to school and kept cooking and learning. I was self-taught.

I wanted to get fine dining experience so I went to work at No.
9 Park in Boston with Barbara Lynch, and then at Toppers at the Wauwinet in Nantucket, MA. with chef David Daniels. He would stand behind me every day and tell me I needed to be better. They were long days; it was seasonal so it was in at 5 am and out at 1 am, seven days a week.

I would say David, is the chef that inspired and pushed me to be the chef I am today. He turned into one of my really good friends. I came back season after season for four years.

After I went to New York City. I worked at Cavair Russe on Mad- ison Avenue, Abe and Arthur’s, and I opened Prospect in Brooklyn.
I wanted to go around and to see how everyone was organized, how their kitchens worked and make connections.

I always wanted to get my foot in the door at Per Se or Eleven Madison Park but they did not think I had enough experience at the time. It took me a while to find my way as a chef, now I’m 23 years in..

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TODAY AS A CHEF?
It’s always a process when you are a chef. How you create your

own identity is one of the hardest things to becoming an actual chef. It is difficult to get to a place where people can identify your food as your own with your own style and defining characteristics. I’ve never copied other styles. I don't make the same dish twice, I push boundaries. It takes time.

WHAT IS YOUR KITCHEN LIKE AT ZERO GEORGE?

We have a tasting menu only. I try not to repeat ingredients throughout the process of developing the menu. I try to make things weird and different – use things that sound like they do not go together like smoked snails and blueberries. And then we make them delicious and look beautiful. Nothing I do is pretentious, it is supposed to be fun.

My staff stays with me because it is never the same thing. I think people crave challenge. It makes them more creative.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR KITCHEN IS A VERY CREATIVE PLACE WITH A LOT OF RESPECT FOR PEOPLE AND FOOD; A KITCHEN WITH A MORAL COMPASS – WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR CULINARY VALUES?

Everyone is always welcome to come up with ideas. It’s part of the process. I strongly encourage it. We also respect nature, the seasons, and the growing cycles. “Things that grow together, go together” and

in every season there are lots of things to use to create new recipes. One thing we are really passionate about is we try not to waste

things. So I make projects out of our food. I often ask my team, “What are you doing with those onion peels or potatoes skins?” and it becomes a recipe.

IS THERE A DISH THAT CAME OUT OF THAT PROCESS?
Leeks are the biggest wasteful foods, most people want the white

parts on the bottom.
The tops are woody and fibrous. One day we had lexans and

lexans of leek tops and I asked “What are we going to do with them?” We made a leek ash puree with a poached egg.
Here’s how...

For the leek tops, we burn them and turn them into a leek ash, freeze the tops in liquid nitrogen and then dehydrate to make a crispy leek crunch. We then salt and massage with 3% salt to lacto ferment and make a puree as well that is folded into a vichyssoise-style puree that the soft egg sits in.