Steve Fratto, Chef De Cuisine

Chef Steve Fratto will tell you he has the best profession in the world. “My inspiration for cooking would have to go back to my training. Fresh ingredients and fresh food prepared and seasoned properly, presented to my guests to show my passion and love for what I do,” says Chef Fratto. And he’s got the awards and a Guinness World Record to prove his passion is legit. The love began at a vocational high school for cooking and further developed at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, where he graduating with an A.O.S. in Culinary Arts. Afterward, Chef Fratto completed his apprenticeship at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, and then moved to the Cayman Islands where he served as a Food and Beverage manager for Hyatt Resorts in the Caribbean.

Chef Fratto returned to the mainland to help open the Omni Rosen Hotel as Chef de Cuisine, during which he aired in local T.V. spots, as well as was featured in magazine articles for the Everglades Restaurant. He left the Omni to embark on massive, national events including three U.S. Open tennis tournaments, two U.S. Open Golf tournaments, four Kentucky Derby races, four College Bowl games, the NCAA Basketball Finals, the NBA Finals, an MLB All-Star Games, two Super Bowls, and twenty-five NASCAR events. The size of his events peaked when he catered a Beta Sorority women’s event in Washington D.C. During this event, 15,000 plated meals were served a day for three days, thus setting a Guinness World Record.

But setting records didn’t match the pleasure he gained when cooking for and designing plate settings for celebrities, government officials, princes, sultans, and sports athletes. His fondest memory has been meeting great chefs and major influences of his. “Two of my biggest thrills was to meet for over an hour and a half, in a closed door meeting, with the late Paul Prudhomme and literally talk about roux, and to cook for both Paul Bocuse and Roger Verge.” Other accolades include two first place medals for commercial cooking and commercial baking and Best of Dining awards for restaurants where he served as a chef.