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Worldly chef has a simple approach

Posted to: Foo Executive chef Vincent LaMonte, right, shown with executive sous chef John Lenio, credits the dishes his parents made for his creations today.

(Steve Earley / The Virginian-Pilot)

It was the first day of the new lunch menu at Foggy Point Bar & Grill

at the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel and Waterfront Conference Center and busy executive chef Vincent LaMonte didn't flinch. He churned out meal after meal.

LaMonte, 38, sprinted back and forth from stove to counter: cutting tomatoes for a chicken salad, slicing ham for a club sandwich and boiling rigatoni for a pasta dish.

"I need a pick-up on table 62," he said loudly, restaurant code for a server to claim a salad. He then grabbed a handful of uncooked shrimp and threw it into a pan. A large flash of fire erupted from the stove, but LaMonte, sweat beads forming on his face from the heat, kept his cool.

This is what he lives for. LaMonte's culinary talents have had him cooking all over the world -

Italy, France, China, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates. Now they've landed him in Hampton Roads, where he's been at

Foggy Point since March.

A New Orleans native, he came here because of his wife, who is attending a

biology doctoral program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Cooking is what LaMonte grew up doing, and the Crescent City is

where his culinary career started. "That was the foundation as a cook," he said of the city's strong

culinary reputation. "It was an instinct for me to gravitate for food because it made me happy."

LaMonte said his mother, who is Cajun French, is an excellent cook. She and his Sicilian father would fight over serving pasta or rice with their meals. They always ended up serving both, he said.

The French and Italian dishes his parents made became the inspiration for many of his own creations at Foggy Point. Instead of glitz and glam on the new menu, LaMonte went for what he calls comfort and accessible food with a twist.

For example, placing a slice of brie on a club sandwich instead of American cheese makes the flavor pop, he said. His Cobb salad features an entire head of bibb lettuce and Danish bleu cheese. "My approach to food is almost childlike," he said. "Children think in a linear way, and I like that simple approach."

Some of his dishes, like one where fish is cooked on hickory or cedar planks, brings back memories of the time he spent cooking with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse in New Orleans. "It brings me back to my Emeril days when we'd crank out so many," said LaMonte, who was a line cook there for seven years. The kitchen routinely turned out 80 or so of the planked fish dishes daily.

"I credit him with creating in me the chef I wanted to be," he said of Lagasse.

Through his travels, LaMonte has learned plenty about food and the way people consume it. For example, European cuisine is known for its fresh ingredients, he said, adding that the food in Paris is "old world," the food in Dubai is rustic and American food is rushed.

His own favorite dish is cassoulet, a French concoction that contains white beans, duck and sausage. "It's a good hearty meal," he said.

In Hampton Roads, he said he's found that diners like his fried green tomatoes, barbecue shrimp, veal chops and that planked fish.

Locals aren't into spicy foods as much as they are in his hometown, he said. "I get fussed at for putting too much New Orleans flavor in. There's not that much spice. There's good food, but on the heat scale we're a two," he said of Hampton Roads cuisine.

And, yes, he does do the cooking at home. His wife likes his barbecue shrimp and his three children like his pasta and crepes.

"My wife will not cook," he added, and laughed. "She married a cook because she doesn't cook."

Jennifer Jiggetts, (757) 222-5104, [email protected]  

By Jennifer JiggettsThe Virginian-Pilot

Je w e l o f t h e

Ca r i b b ea n

Bam! Emeril protégéjoins dining center staff By DAVID SEEBER

Executive chef Vincent LaMonte brings worldly culinary experience to Virginia Wesleyan.

"I want to get to know the people here," LaMonte said. "I'm one of the good guys."

Wesleyan has been expanding its cast of faculty and staff over the last few years, and one of the newest additions has found his way to the dining hall. New Executive Chef Vincent LaMonte brings world class culinary experience and a taste of New Orleans to the school. LaMonte has held positions under famous television chef Emeril Lagasse at his New Orleans restaurant as well as the NOLA and Delmonico branches. LaMonte described his work there as hard and demanding, and said that Lagasse ran his kitchen like a drill sergeant. Chefs who worked with him addressed him with, "sir, yes sir," according to LaMonte. It was partly this unrelenting intensity that led LaMonte to Wesleyan.LaMonte's culinary career began in New Orleans, working under French and Italian chefs. He then traveled to Italy to hone his craft at the 2 Michelin Star Grand Hotel Londres in San Remo, Italy. Soon after this, LaMonte headed northwest, taking cooking and culinary classes at the Ecole des Arts Culinaires et de L'Hotellerie de Lyon, in France. He worked as a chef on a 30-meter pleasure yacht in the Mediterranean, and opened New Orleans-style restaurants in the People's Republic of China and the United Arab Emirates. He worked as sous chef in a five star hotel in the Virgin Islands. With most of his time spent traveling, LaMonte was left with little time to watch his first two daughters grow up. With a third daughter, now 2, LaMonte began looking for something more stable and settled, two criteria that the job at Wesleyan met.LaMonte described his decision to come here as being influenced by the employee-friendly policies of Wood Dining Service, the Sodexho subsidiary that runs the Wesleyan Dining Hall. LaMonte said that the company offered him good benefits and policies, and that he liked the operating procedures. While he enjoys the way the dining services are run, LaMonte also brings several fresh ideas and a willingness to take some chances to the table."I'm the kind of guy that takes the path less traveled,” said LaMonte. “I'm a risk taker." As such, he's moved from the faster- paced world he was in in New Orleans to what he termed 'institutional' cooking here. It's a totally new experience for him, but he has some ideas to add flavor to the Wesleyan dining experience. He has already begun to look at a plan to address what he feels is a hole in the food service. "I'm looking toward building a smoothie and health food bar in the side of the Marlin Grille," which is now, he said, under-utilized. The bar he envisions would have fruit smoothies along with other health foods, near the gym and the pool, an attraction not only for students, but a revenue earner for the college, serving those who come to use the facilities.LaMonte also has some leeway on his menu, and he's going to take full advantage of it. "The new soups [this week, Spanish Beef and Rice and Chicken Fajita] were just the beginning," LaMonte said. Up to twenty percent of the items he prepares can be new and made from scratch. He's looking to take the dining Hall in a more homemade direction, making more things from scratch. "I'm here for the students, I've got an open door, open office policy," explained LaMonte.He encourages the students to come to him with new ideas, suggestions or comments. He welcomes personal visits and intends to check the comments board regularly. "I want to get to know the people here," LaMonte said. "I'm one of the good guys."