Ario Restaurant At JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort In Marco Island, Florida: Meet The Chef

Apr 1

We sat down with Chef de Cuisine Damian Manfre of Ario at JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Marco Island, Florida.

Source: JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort

Where did you grow up, and where have you traveled to that has helped inspire and shape your cooking philosophy?

I was born and raised in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. During my studies at cooking school (17 years old), I began to enter the world of gastronomy at the hands of my first Chef, Ricardo Kaminski, in a small Vietnamese restaurant. After a few years, I made my first opening with the most major casino project in South America called "City Center," where I started working at the fine dining restaurant "Le Gula." After two years, I began the adventure that every young cook wants to do; Hungry to learn more about this culinary world, see new kitchens and new techniques, and test my physique through the discipline of working a thousand hours a day and resilience, I decided to go to Patagonia (my first trip to the south of Argentina) for two years, from there to Lyon, France, to carry out my first Stage in the restaurant "Paul Bocuse" (3*michelin), then to the Basque Country, more precisely to Donostia, to the restaurant "Lasarte" by Martin Berasategui (3* Michelin). After such an adventure, I returned to the south of Argentina for a few more years, to finally arrive again in my beloved city of Rosario to work as Chef de Cuisine in one of the most emblematic 5-star hotels in the city. After three years, through the contact of some colleagues, I found myself with the opportunity to start working for Marriott International in the Cayman Islands, where I worked for 3 years. Finally, In March of this year, I joined the talented team at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Marco Island, Florida, USA.

Ario Restaurant At JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort In Marco Island, Florida

Tell our readers an interesting fact or two about yourself.

Without a doubt, working with fire is something that I am passionate about. As a good Argentine, barbecue has been part of our lives since we can remember. And mine was no exception; every Sunday, we would get together as a family to admire my grandfather (José) like a flame toward an unforgettable reunion. That passion for uniting the family around the fires marked a path for me to follow. On the other hand, "traveling" allowed me to see different cuisines, and without a doubt, the one that marked me the most was Basque cuisine. Today I continue to adopt many techniques from that region. I like reading and being connected to what is happening on the world scene in terms of avant-garde cooking; without a doubt, today, I also apply many cooking techniques from Southeast Asia and the Nordic countries. It is unfair of me not to mention that my Latino heritage weighs heavily on my plates, so I always observe what is happening in my country, Peru, Chile, and Brazil.

Tell us about your absolute favorite food and why readers should try it if they haven’t already.

The food I enjoy the most is, as I mentioned before, the Asado cooked with woodfires. For Argentines, it is not only about cooking a grilled cut of meat but also about enjoying everything that happens before when serving the food at the table. We must understand that the Argentine Asado usually takes between three to four hours to end and do the feast. During this time, when the meat is cooking, we socialize with our friends and family, generally through what we call a "picada" (classic antipasti with cold meats and cheeses from the region) and good vermouth with sparkling water (traditional drink). I cannot stop mentioning our grilled provolone cheese with chimichurri sauce, called "Provoleta," a semi- hard cheese that we place in a cast iron to melt on the grill and accompany it with our famous sauce based on parsley, garlic, oregano, chili ground, bay leaf, lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

What are three ingredients that you simply couldn’t live without?

Garlic, onion and a good homemade broth that has been cooked for three days.

We love the art behind plating. What do you love about designing the perfect dish?

What I like about designing a dish, without a doubt, is the creative process. Creativity should always be an almost playful process, where we are highly open to play, make mistakes and learn from them. This allows us to develop, with more freedom, the ideas that we want to transfer from our minds to the plate. I like to try new things that sometimes work together but say something different.

Tell us about one of the most creative dishes you’ve created?

During my last menu change at Ario at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, we had been thinking about a new “raw” dish, and the idea of combining hamachi fish with raspberries came up. A very fresh and aromatic dish. We make a citric tea with raspberries, which we use as a sauce, and add a yuzu gel, accompanied by two tuiles of black garlic. Ideal for opening the palate, and trying it in the spring and summer season.

What is one of your greatest accomplishments and/or recent awards you've earned?

I don't usually measure achievements or awards; it's not something that motivates me too much. But I can name some experiences that have marked my career and professional growth. During the pandemic, I was called to direct as Head Chef an opening project of one restaurant and one hotel in the Cayman Islands for the local company Piper Resorts, Ltd. This project took many hours of planning and logistics. After a year of work designing the different spaces, planning the various menus, and recruiting the work team during a very particular world situation (Covid-19), today, it was one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced carry forward. Once the opening date arrives, and after being open for only two months, we position ourselves as the "Best Restaurant in the Country and Region," according to TripAdvisor readers. It was the perfect finishing touch to close one of my career's most significant learning processes.

What are some of the latest trends you’re seeing in top restaurants across the globe?

Today, the avant-garde involves going back to the origins and bases. After years of much technical development, promoted by maestro Ferran Adria and his team from "El Bulli," today the world has decided that we must rethink what we have learned and look back again at what matters most to us, the "product." The trend comes from that side, not to manipulate the "food" so much and let the seasonality give us the best quality in our dishes. Less manipulation and more minimalism, simple.

What’s your favorite cocktail or beverage of choice?

A classic Gin & Tonic!

What do you love about being the Chef de Cuisine of Ario at JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Marco Island, Florida?

Something that I certainly appreciate very much about our restaurant and the property, in general, is the “freedom” in the creative process. As chefs, we must be free to express ourselves through our dishes. At Ario, we have the possibility of working with high-quality products that few restaurants have the opportunity of handling. On the other hand, I cannot stop naming my culinary team. I have a great group of cooks who trust in what we try to carry out daily and maintain the same respect and responsibility that I do in achieving a high-quality product for our guests. Working with them for so many hours, side by side is something that I really enjoy.