Overseer of four Caesars Entertainment restaurants and the conqueror of several triathlons, Anthony Amoroso has taken his rightful place at the top of the culinary crop.
Anthony Amoroso.
Getting in touch with Anthony Amoroso isn’t the easiest thing to do.
Which is understandable, considering the corporate executive chef of four Caesars Entertainment-based restaurants — Atlantic Grill, Bill’s Burger Bar, Sammy D’s and Dos Caminos — has been rather busy lately.
Beyond professional culinary responsibilities, the 40-year-old Jersey City native finished third in his age group in the Atlantic City Triathlon back on Sept. 15. He’s had notable success in two other recent competitions — placing third in his age group at a triathlon in Heightstown and winning his age group at another ultimate endurance event in Bass River State Park.
When the still-youthful chef finally settled down for a revealing, personal discussion, we couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised at his discernible lack of ego and his easy candor. All this coming from a guy — we should mention before moving further — who bested Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto on an episode of Iron Chef America airing in October 2009.
Making this accomplishment all the more significant was the secret ingredient for that evening, the Mediterranean sea bass called branzino. Beating Morimoto, the only Iron Chef to appear in both the original Japanese version and its American counterpart, is epic in and of itself. But topping him in a battle featuring seafood is akin to kicking God out of his own bed and leaving crumbs all over the sheets.
At the time, Amoroso was posted at Las Vegas’ Bellagio, working as an executive chef for Micheal Mina’s first incarnation of SeaBlue, the East Coast sequel to which he later went on to establish at the Borgata in A.C. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves already.
The back-story of Amoroso’s career begins at age 13 with his mom and a mobile water ice business in what is now New York City’s trendy Meatpacking District. Deeming high school “not interesting enough,” he matriculated at Hudson County Community College’s Culinary Arts Institute. Shortly after graduating, Amoroso took an initial posting at the nearby Hilton Short Hills Country Club, speaking about this period in his budding career with great reverence.
“Everybody [who worked there] went on to do something great for themselves,” he says.
28 West Bar and Bites, the newest dining entity at Borgata, arrived earlier this spring.
Our first opportunity to glimpse the space that would, as of Wednesday, Oct. 10, become Margate’s new Italian eatery Bocca, was early this past summer. At that time, the Ventnor Avenue property most locals recall as the former Sailfish had been stripped down to bare walls and earth.
Foodies anticipate yearly the exceptional dining event at Borgata known as Savor Borgata — An Evening with Borgata’s Culinary Masters. This year marks the fifth anniversary of this acclaimed culinary conclave of the casino’s top chefs.
If you’ve been meaning to meander over to the Tropicana to sample any — or many — of its extensive ensemble of eateries, Sunday through Thursday, Oct. 28 through Nov. 1, might be the perfect time to do it.
To begin the holiday season, we asked some of the Atlantic City-Cape May region’s finest chefs to provide us with a few of their favorite recipes, easily translated for non-professional cooks. Have fun trying them out in your kitchen.
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1. Stephen Del Monte said... on Oct 25, 2012 at 02:14PM
“Anthony is first class...all the way. Humble does not begin to describe the man. He is a tremendous ambassador for Atlantic City...not only in regards to his culinary abilities, but as a person of integrity.”
2. Anonymous said... on Jan 11, 2013 at 01:33AM
“What a joke of a person. Thank God that AH got away before he rearranged her face again. Shameful.”