Vincent Cosgrove's culinary curiosity has taken him from the crab pots of Nantucket Island, to the Latin kitchens of San Juan, Argentina and the grills of Napa, California. Along the way he's collected hundreds of traditional regional recipes, hoping to one day bring them together in a restaurant in his own back yard. With Union Station The Restaurant, the newest Worcester restaurant, Cosgrove finally has a place to showcase the best of American regional cuisine.
A 35 year old Boston native, Cosgrove started in the restaurant business at the tender age of 13 working as a dishwasher, and by age 19 had worked his way up to Executive Chef at Obadiha's Native Seafood on Nantucket. Loving the energy and atmosphere of the kitchen, he decided to pursue cooking as a calling, receiving a culinary degree from Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island in 1988.
Between 1990 and 1993, Cosgrove helped launch the Papa Razzi chain of restaurants in Boston, and from there, began traveling around the country working at many of the nation's top restaurants, including New York's Tribeca Grill and Le Cirque, Vivere in Chicago, the Commander's Palace in New Orleans, and the Club Car in Nantucket.
In '94 Vincent was called upon to re-vitalize two restaurants one in Perth, Australia and the other in San Juan, Argentina. For one year Vincent traveled back and fourth between these two diverse citys and soaked up the culture and recipes. He found the food to be so intense and flavorful in the surrounding countryside's of Cuyo, Argentina and Margret River, Australia.
Then in 1995, Cosgrove joined two partners in launching Road Trip, a Boston establishment serving regional American cuisine. At Road Trip he found the inspiration to create a fine dining restaurant devoted exclusively to traditional regional dishes. When his partners decided to turn Road Trip into a bar, Cosgrove decided to migrate west, taking a position as the West Coast Regional Chef for Restaurants Unlimited, a Seattle-based group whose properties include Stepps in Los Angeles, Palomino in San Francisco, Cutter's Bay House in Seattle, and Skates on the Bay in Berkeley. "Working as a regional chef gave me a sense of the flavor profiles for the West Coast, solidified my education, and really put together the concept for Beau-Vine," he says.
Cosgrove's vision from Beau-Vine in St. Helena integrated his varied cooking experiences from his travels. The menu featured authentic recipes from three different wine regions. North America, South America, and Oceana. Some of Cosgrove's favorites include cedar plank salmon, a filet portion, fire roasted on a plank of virgin cedar. If you know what oak does for wine, taste what cedar can do for salmon from the Pacific west; Murray Red Kangaroo from the Simpson Desert in South Australia, tenderloin rubbed with roasted garlic, pan seared rare, and placed in a pool of Iawalla plum and deep bush tomato chutney. The Brazilian classic of Feijoada Completa, this classic stew of black beans, beef, sausage, and farm vegetables is slow cooked for hours to infuse all the flavors. "It was not fusion cuisine," Cosgrove notes. "People were able to experience authentic recipes and ingredients from each of these diverse wine regions."
Each section of the menu was accompanied by wines that complement the various cooking traditions. Though there was an accent on Napa varietals, Beau-Vine also featured selections from the Australia, New Zealand, Chile, & Argentina. "Beau-Vine's was offering choices that you can't get in restaurants these days," says Cosgrove. "It's a great overview of the New World. Diners had an opportunity to travel the world all in one meal."
At Union Station The Restaurant, opening this spring, the menu will highlight distinctive dishes from six American regions: New England, the Heartland, the wild Southwest, the Pacific, the Northwest and the Deep South. Delicacies offered will range from oven roasted Blackstone valley Farm beet salad tossed in a lime sesame vinaigrette with oranges and organic watercress, grilled corn pudding with braised Berkshire foraged mushrooms, Oreccheitte pasta tossed with tomatoes, asparagus, baby spring onions, fresh pea tendrils, roasted garlic, and extra virgin olive oil, to a 1 ½ pound lobster with Maine Morels and a bourbon butter sauce, hearth roasted Alaskan wild salmon roasted on cedar with lemon and fennel, and a apple wood grilled organic 18 oz Delmonico steak, dry aged for more than 30 days. For health conscious guests, Cosgrove will also offer nutritious, light and flavorful spa style menu items.
The regional concept carry's through to the wine and beer list as well. Along with many California and Pacific Northwest selections, Vincent tasted over 500 wines and beers so that the greatest tasting wine from Spain, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and beer's from Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Thailand, England, and Canada are featured.
Recipes From Chef Vincent Cosgrove
New England Cheese Platter
Cheese Wedges with Tempora
