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BY MARGARET MORGAN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Matthew Zappoli, a 1998 Culinary Institute of America (CIA) honors graduate, and executive chef/owner of Tre Amici restaurant in Long Branch, made his second appearance on the Food Network show "Chopped" in a redemption competition with three other challengers.
Each had come in a close second in their first competitions, which were strongly disputed — hence the opportunity for a second chance at being redeemed and winning the $10,000 prize money.
The final showdown was aired Tuesday night with Matthew the clear winner, out-creating his competitors for the Chopped Champion Chef's prize of $10,000. For those not in the know, the show presents each chef with three baskets containing secret ingredients — one basket each for appetizer, entrée and dessert. Each chef must create an amazing dish based on the secret ingredients.
Matthew's appetizer basket contained a tough piece of beef rump, vegemite and rainbow chard. He made a beef brasciole by pounding the meat very thin to tenderize it. Them he spread the vegemite and grated parmesan on the beef, rolled it up, breaded and fried it and served with sautéed chard seasoned with ginger, garlic, shallots and parsley pesto.
The second basket for entrée was an Oreo-like chocolate wafer cookie, branzino, and pequillo pepper. He also was given bell pepper and jicama. He made a cookie-crusted branzino with a pepper/jicama slaw and jicama/potato rosti. He pureed the pequillo peppers creating a sauce for the branzino.The third basket contained croissant dough, blueberry jelly beans, sesame seeds and vodka. Chef Matthew made a cannoli-type dessert with ricotta, lemon, sugar and chocolate sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds. He infused whipped cream with vodka, made candied sugar sticks, and melted the blueberry jelly beans into a caramelized sauce creating a vibrant blue sauce around the cannoli-like dessert and sprinkled it with powdered sugar.
Another award-winning event for Zappoli was the first year Chef's Challenge at The Ocean Place Resort & Spa. Top chefs from restaurants in Long Branch competed using only New Jersey ingredients.
Zappoli won The People's Choice award for his Rabbit Agnolloti, an Italian-style stuffed pasta with Jersey asparagus. The rabbit came from Fossil Farms in Boonton. The preparation was quite involved as he first braised the legs and cured the loins overnight with fresh herbs, salt, pepper and sugar; then smoked them the next day. He put all the meats together with mascarpone cheese & fresh herbs, mixed together and rolled it in a pasta dough and served it with Madeira roasted rabbit sauce.
Zappoli's love for cooking started early, growing up in an Italian family that gathered around the dinner table daily to feast on rustic homemade Italian cooking. He started at the age of 11 working under his mother's culinary wing before going "pro" at age 13 in a neighborhood pizzeria. Two years after high school he enrolled at CIA during which time he interned at prestigious New York restaurants, Lutece and Grenouille.
Following graduation, he landed back in Manhattan under the tutelage of the renowned chef, Charlie Palmer, at his famous restaurant Aureole. It was here, Zappoli says, "That I really learned from the basics and the discipline essential in four-star restaurants. Charlie has been the most influential person in my culinary experience."
Selected to move upwards at Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen in Sonoma, Zappoli went to Las Vegas to train at Palmer's Aureole at Mandalay Bay Hotel. Here, he made such an impression that he was asked to stay and quickly promoted to Executive Sous Chef.
Anxious to move to Executive Chef, he looked for new ventures and was quickly discovered by restaurateur-entrepreneur, Sami Ladeki who hired him for his newest venture, Fresh Seafood Restaurant & Bar in La Jolla, CA. Here Zappoli really developed his love for cooking with local produce and seafood and developed his own signature cooking style using only the freshest ingredients.
As he learned from Palmer, Zappoli says, "If you start with the absolute highest quality seafood — only sustainable seafood — and best produce, you then have the luxury of allowing those ingredients to stand on their own merit without requiring heavy sauces or other distractions."
At the young age of 29, after returning to the East Coast, Zappoli learned that Piccolo Forno was for sale. In April, 2008, he sealed the deal and opened Tre Amici al Piccolo Forno. He slowly transformed the menu to fit his signature style of cooking without losing longtime customers loyal to the former restaurant. Today, some of the popular seasonal specials on Tre Amici's menu are the pan-roasted halibut and soft shell crabs. Signature dishes year round are the sautéed sea scallops with shrimp risotto and a pork chop Milanese stuffed with fresh herbs, prosciutto, and provolone cheese in a cognac cream sauce.
His past recognition was fortuitous to his future success. He has made two appearances as a featured chef at the James Beard House in New York. In 2004, he was named by Bon Appétit as one of "Five Chefs to Watch" and "Rising Star Chef" by Restaurant Hospitality magazine. With two winning awards in one year, Matthew Zappoli remains a "Chef to Watch" as he is a rising star.
Tre Amici is located at 628 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, New Jersey.
