Join us as we make Italian Alaskan fusion Alaska halibut cheeks.
Vincent Canale
Straight from New Orleans!
If you like the recipe, just leave a comment requesting it and will send you the recipe!
Vincent Canale is a second generation Sicilian, born in New Orleans, and grew up in New Orleans catching and sucking the heads of crawfish as soon as he was old enough to hold one. He was reared on “red gravy”, “barbeque shrimp,”, po-boys and Coca-Cola, gumbo, etoufée, stuffed artichokes, among other fabulous weird things. Although considered a chef by many, he is not a chef, nor does he claim to be. He started working in the restaurant industry at the famous Villa D’Este (now Piero’s) restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada as a busboy trainee under Chef Joseph Pignatello. That experience landed him a job on Las Vegas Boulevard as a busboy, then prep cook, then line cook. Fast and furious as an eggman, and with the assistance of a great hostess and manager, Mr. Canale held the record, at that time, for the most eggs and omelet orders pushed through a restaurant by a five man line in an eight-hour shift at the Peppermill Restaurant: 1,400 orders! He eventually landed at the Las Vegas Hilton after meeting and cooking for the Executive Chefs and Sous Chef. He soon became in demand among all of the Las Vegas Hilton restaurants, and other areas of the hotel such as the sports book, pastry shop, butcher shop, room service, garmache, Andiamo, and corps kitchen. Even though the chef of every restaurant in the Hilton recruited him, he remained under the wing of Executive Chef George Ziros. After working in every culinary facet of the Hotel, the Executives refused to let him leave their side, not because he was a good cook, but because they thought he was a lot of fun to have around the kitchen. Vincent left the Las Vegas Hilton on great terms to pursue a different career. After almost twenty years, he stepped back into the kitchen and worked under Chef Mick Hug for one summer at Mick’s Grill in Anchorage, Alaska. He learned a great deal under Chef Hug and states, “Chef Hug was amazing to work for. He taught me so much and we had a lot of fun. It was a great experience.” Chef VIncent is the founder and a three-time first place winner of the Gumbo Throwdown, Gumbo competition, a blind competition featuring local celebrities, benefitting charitable non-profit organizations in Alaska. Chef Vincent still enjoys cooking and watching his little son Salvatore make his own little recipes in the kitchen.