Meet The Chefs: The Cottage Wellesley

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series profiling local chefs and sharing their favorite summer recipes.

Jason Stump, 27, chef at The Cottage Wellesley at 190 Linden St., where menu and theme combine Southern Californian familiarity and New England warmth and sophistication, has been cooking since he could walk.

Stump grew up in Roanoke, VA, surrounded by family members who cooked. His uncles and aunts, he said, worked at a local pizza place, where he got his first shot at restaurant work at 14. "I was sitting home one day, watching cartoons and my uncle called me," Stump said. His uncle told him there was an opening and asked if he wanted a job. Stump said yes.

Ironically, Stump doesn't have a culinary degree. He graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in communications. Often, he said, he'd pass up spending time with friends to work at his school job at Spolettos in Northhampton, MA, from 2004 - 2006. He'd work his shift and then hang out with the other chefs after hours. The experience cemented his interest in a restaurant career, he said. 

From there he went on to work in the LTK (Legals Test Kitchen) in Boston's seaport district until 2008, helping to open the establishment and working with Chef Paul Bouras. "He's an old-school chef," Stump said. 

After that, Stump spent about a year at the Scully Square restaurant on Beacon Street in Boston, where he helped develop the menu with the owner. That's a theme he's continued with his current post, working for  John and Laura Wolfe, Cottage Wellesley owners. John hails from La Jolla, CA, and Laura grew up in Wellesley. Each bring elements of their home to the establishment's style. "Which is kind of perfect for this type of restaurant," Stump said. 

Creating new dishes is a treat for Stump. "It's the best part, the most fun. Playing around with the food, coming up with ideas," Stump said.  Among some of the things Stump has created for the Cottage Wellesley menu is the California Wedge Salad:

California Wedge Salad

Romain wedge

Green Goddess dressing

Roasted artichoke

Kalamata olives

Fire roasted red peppers

Sweet cherry tomatoes

Chilled new potatoes

Whole wheat chees

Croutons

Stump begins with a bare plate and a wedge of Romain lettuce, ladling a little Green Goddess dressing over it. The dressing is from San Francisco, he said, created at the Palace Hotel in 1923 as a tribute to the play, "The Green Goddess". Next come the artichoke, olives, tomatoes, potatoes, cheese and croutons, arranged artfully and deftly in minutes.

The Cottage Wellesley is located at 190 Linden St., Wellesley. You may also visit their website for more information.