UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 37, Page 6
July 20, 1995
Top chef to participate in cuisine exchange

     A gourmet's dream come true will take place in October when 20 top
chefs from North America, Europe and Japan demonstrate their culinary
skills by preparing their specialties at the Philadelphia Convention
Center. Among the participants will be Joe DiGregorio, director of catering
on campus.
     The talented chefs have been selected for the International Guest Chef
Series, an exchange program, sponsored by ARAMARK, the parent company of UD
Dining Services. This is the first year that chefs from campus dining have
been included in the program.
     DiGregorio, whose campus responsibilities include catering, staff
training and menus, also enjoys hands-on cooking, and he supervises and
helps prepare the menu for events in the president's home.
     For the October kitchen party and a November party in Munich-both of
which will be attended by ARAMARK management, trade publication writers,
business executives, clients and government officials-DiGregorio plans to
prepare an appetizer, a favorite at the Prsident's house, composed of a
nest of angel hair pasta, with a grilled vegetable terrine, topped with red
pepper coulis.
     For two weeks before the Philadelphia event, DiGregorio will host a
chef from Germany, who will prepare specialties from his country for Dining
Services. DiGregorio later will travel to either Belgium or Germany as part
of the exchange.
     As a teenager, DiGregorio had a summer job as a busboy in a restaurant
in Wildwood, N.J., doing assorted tasks in the kitchen, from sweeping to
dish washing. He gradually moved up the culinary ladder and discovered that
he was interested in food, enjoyed cooking and decided to make it his
career.
     He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park,
N.Y., the top school in its field. There, he received a thorough grounding
in classical cooking, the history of cuisine and hands-on instruction in
food preparation from soup to pastry. He said the institute gave him the
foundation for becoming a professional chef, which can only be learned
through experience. While at the institute, he also spent two weeks at the
Cordon Bleu School in Paris, staying a few days with a French family.
     At the Cordon Bleu, different chefs were invited to teach classes,
discuss food and carry out demonstrations. DiGregorio also was interested
in the typical French food prepared by his host family, which usually had a
vegetable terrine for the main course, followed by small portions of meat.
It was quite different from family food in the United States, DiGregorio
said.
     From the Culinary Institute, DiGregorio became chef di parti saucier,
in charge of sauces, soups and the daily specials, at the Playboy Hotel and
Casino in Atlantic City for five years.
     When he and his wife, Lisa, decided to travel west, DiGregorio became
sous chef at Beanos Cabin in Vail, Colo. Beanos was an unusual restaurant,
DiGregorio said. The only way to get there was by helicopter or by skiing,
although, occasionally, patrons arrived by sleigh. Everyone parked their
skis and boots at the door and walked around in their stocking feet.
     Returning to the East Coast, DiGregorio became chef at the Eaglesnest
Country Club in Sewell, N.J., where his responsibilities included
coordinating kitchen operations, purchasing, cost control and staff
training.
     In 1988, he came to Newark as executive chef at the University and
established preparation and production procedures for all the dining
facilities, as well as conference and presidential catering. He also
trained the culinary staff.
     He left the University for a year to become executive chef of the
Sheraton Hotel, University City in Philadelphia, and was invited to return
to Delaware in his current position in 1993.
     DiGregorio said he is looking forward to his new adventure this fall
and hopes to pick up pointers on European cuisine and sample some of the
specialties of the region where he is assigned.
     What is the chef's at-home specialty?
     DiGregorio said his wife is an expert sandwich maker, and her
creations are unusual and delicious. His contribution to the family table
is a combination of cavetelli pasta, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped
spinach, topped with virgin olive oil, garlic, basil, Italian parsley,
black pepper and romano cheese. It's so good that he, his wife and 5-year-
old son, Joseph, enjoy it two or three times a week.
                                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure