Accomplished Chef Credits SWBOCES Instructor for his Success

It’s been 26 years since Robert Finateri graduated from the SWBOCES Culinary Arts Program at the Center for Career Services in Valhalla, but he still seeks the guidance and advice of his trusted friend and former BOCES instructor Chef Gerry Murphy.

The two have been close since the award-winning chef left the campus and went out into the world, taking what he learned from the long-time teacher and confidante and putting it to good use in a variety of restaurants, hotels, catering companies and corporate dining facilities.

“Much of my success is because of Gerry and his teachings,” said Mr. Finateri, who currently serves as executive chef and business relations and vendor manager at Silvio’s Restaurant & Pizzeria in Thornwood.

A Westlake High School graduate, Mr. Finateri always knew he wanted to be a chef. Silvio’s was where his career started. It was at the popular neighborhood restaurant, known previously as Rose Hill Pizza & Pasta, where he learned to prep, chop, make pizzas and stuffed rolls, he said.

It’s also where he learned about the other side of the restaurant business, including how to converse with customers and acquire other front-of-the-house skills.

As a student at BOCES, Mr. Finateri flexed his leadership abilities by serving as VICA president (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America), now known as SkillsUSA. He also entered several VICA-sponsored cooking competitions and won prizes in all of them.

He was definitely a student who stood out among the others, said Chef Murphy. “Certain students, no matter what their circumstances, all have one thing in common, and that is a respect for the food,” he noted.

“Robert was always thirsty for more information and on how to work neater, faster and safer, and how to make great-tasting food from humble cuts of meat,” Chef Murphy added.

When Mr. Finateri graduated from BOCES in 1991 and then two years later at the top of his class from the Culinary Institute of America with an associate’s degree, Mr. Finateri said he viewed his newly minted qualifications as a way to growing a career rather than simply holding down a job.

Throughout his 20-year career, he has worked for a variety of corporate clients, including Sodexho North America, FLIK International, the Compass Group North America and Aramark Corporation. In these roles, Mr. Finateri was not only in charge of food services but also responsible for managing millions of dollars between catering and daily operations.

In addition to being a talented cook and baker, Mr. Finateri, the divorced father of two young boys, is also skilled in management. That’s something he also learned under Chef Murphy’s tutelage, he said.

“He teaches you delivery,” said Mr. Finateri, referring to Chef Murphy’s lesson on being able to get staff to comply with one’s instructions, but in a way that is not demeaning.

“A sauté is a sauté, but it’s how you get your message across to the cook that makes the difference,” he added.

His duties have often been complex, from managing large groups of people in different areas of a restaurant or food service company to maintaining budgets, implementing new nutritional programs, handling inventory, as well as creating great food without skimping on taste.

“I suppose in many ways I’m a kind of chameleon,” said Mr. Finateri, who considers himself a well-rounded culinarian, one who is eager to not only learn but to train individuals as well.

The highlights of Mr. Finateri’s fruitful career are the times when he feels he is stimulated and under pressure. It’s when he does his best work, he said.

Examples include the test he took for the executive chef job at the Aramark Corporation located at New York University, which required him to create a seven-course (??) meal in two hours.

“I work extremely well under pressure, and my attitude is contagious to the other staff,” said Mr. Finateri, who has worked for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Milstein family, owners of the Emigrant Savings Bank.

Other focal points in his career include cooking for President Barack Obama during his run for the presidency in 2008, being a contestant in the Food Network’s reality TV show “Cutthroat Kitchen” as well as being a competitor in the annual Prince Edward Island Shell Fish Cooking competition, where he represented the United States last year.

Mr. Finateri said both the expertise and the guidance he received from Chef Murphy has been invaluable to his success.

“If there is anything that I take away from Gerry’s mentorship, it’s the the fact that he always stressed honesty, integrity and above all, craft.”