Meet the Chef: Scott Tessier of Porto Bello

An interview with Scott Tessier of Shrewsbury Street’s Porto Bello Restaurant

By Paul Giorgio

June 2005 – Scott, a graduate of Newbury College- Brookline and the UMass Boston School of Hotel Management, has been cooking for 14 years, 11 of them at his family owned business, Porto Bello. Prior to joining his family, he cooked at The Country Club in Brookline and the Kennedy Library in Dorchester.

Pulse: What is your favorite food to cook?
ST: Sautéed fishes

Pulse: What is your favorite thing to eat?
ST: Pizza

Pulse: From where?
ST: Figs in Boston and the Wonder Bar in
Worcester

Pulse: What is your cooking philosophy?
ST: Keep everything organized, keep the kitchen clean and have fun.

Pulse: What is your favorite herb?
ST: Basil. I like all different kinds — some that people don’t know about. I use lemon basil with fish and cinnamon basil with pork. And of course I use a lot of sweet Italian basil here. I never use oregano in any of my recipes.

Pulse: What is your favorite flavor?
ST: Well, I really like demi-glace as a flavor.

Pulse: What are three things in your home refrigerator?
ST: Italian cold cuts, chardonnay and beer

Pulse: Who’s the most famous person you ever cooked for, anywhere?
ST: Matt Scanell from the band Vertical Horizonand Paul Cook from Anthrax

Pulse: What was your biggest cooking embarrassment?
ST: The handle broke on a 10 gallon pan that was full of red sauce. That makes a mess, if you’ve ever tried cleaning up tomato sauce.

Pulse: Ok, what is your biggest accomplishment?
ST: Owning Porto Bello in Worcester for 10 years.

Pulse: If you could invite three people to dinner, who would they be?
ST: Mario Batali, Julia Child and Anthony Boudoin, who is the” bad boy” of chefs