Chris Aquilino
Senior Director of Enterprise Culinary
Elior North America

Kitchen Collaborative is a recipe-development initiative formed by Summit F&B and Flavor & The Menu. To fuel flavor innovation, a group of talented chefs partnered with sponsor brands and commodity boards to create recipes that showcase the passion and potential of our industry.

Chris Aquilino views his career in the culinary arts profession quite literally. “I have always had one foot in the food world and the other in the visual arts world,” he explains. He earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, studying both sculpture and culinary arts and brings a dual passion to his work as senior director of enterprise culinary for Elior North America and owner/chief culinary officer of Chef Aquilino Consulting. “I view ingredients, flavors and cooking as a medium for art and an important source of connection among all the senses. That’s been my major motivation throughout my career, as I’ve grown in the business.” It’s a vision that has expanded, he says, to include both other culinary professionals and the customers they serve. “They are all part of the art.”

In applying his art for more than 30 years, Aquilino has come to view foodservice as an ecosystem, where ideation follows research, and crafting a dish is also about crafting an experience that engages chefs and customers alike. This involves sharing knowledge and insights with others. “You can’t have chefs creating and recreating impactful dishes without proper mentorship and inspiration,” he says, speaking to the success of food businesses that understand how such a ripple effect creates the very best outcomes. In leading by example, Aquilino offers three Kitchen Collaborative recipes developed to create memorable ripples: Kikkoman^® Soy Sauce and Beet-Marinated Kanpachi Crudo; Aussie Select Lamb Bacon, Fried Green Tomatoes and Basil Sandwich; and Tomato Leaf Pesto, California Burrata and Roasted Tomato Toast.

Kikkoman^® Soy Sauce and Beet-Marinated Kanpachi Crudo

Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley

In bidding farewell to warm summer days and looking forward to the flavor transitions of autumn, Aquilino’s Kikkoman^® Soy Sauce and Beet-Marinated Kanpachi Crudo pays homage to both seasons. “Crudo with bright citrus and cured fish were a holdout of summer, and the beets were a sneak peek at dishes to come,” he recounts. “Late summer is a fun time of year to develop recipes.”

The colorful dish is a prize to the eyes, and Aquilino affirms that visual aesthetics regularly play an essential role in his recipe ideation process. “I am a visual artist, as well as a chef. My dishes are at least 50 percent visual composition, and the rest are a balance of texture and flavor,” he says. While he insists that flavor always comes first, in this recipe, “I wanted to see how far I could push the dish visually. I wanted to create a stained glass effect. I really loved how the beets began to bleed within the mirin, which gave the dish a transformational quality.”

Skinned and trimmed kanpachi are cut into loins, which are marinated in beet juice, soy sauce and lime juice. Clementine skins are added to the mixture. The beets—including the stems—are pickled in vinegar, water, star anise, sugar and salt over heat. Shishito peppers are seared to add color and build flavor before being combined with beet greens, sesame oil, salt and lime juice to form a pesto. The cold plate features an artful arrangement of cured kanpachi, clementine slices, sliced Fresnos, the pickled beets, dots of sushi sauce and shishito pesto, micro greens and black sesame seeds.

“The flavors here are quite bright and simultaneously earthy,” says Aquilino. “The beet-cured fish is a nice juxtaposition of ingredients. The beets give the fish a more prominent flavor, while keeping it fresh and somewhat neutral. The longer the fish cures, the more beet ‘essence’ it will take on. Then, the pickled components against the sweetness of the citrus are such a delicious contrast. And because I love spice, Fresno peppers are my go-to—and one that complements all the other components.”

The chef also likes to fry up the kanpachi skin as a crispy garnish. “It was intended as a textural element, but I also like to use as close to 100 percent of an ingredient as I can,” he notes. “The beets are used in their entirety, as well—root to stem. It’s a great way to divert from the waste bin, while delivering flavor and texture.”

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Aussie Select Lamb Bacon, Fried Green Tomatoes and Basil Sandwich

Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley

“I could have created 10 dishes,” says Aquilino, revealing unbridled enthusiasm for the Aussie Select Prime Rib Roast that anchors his spin on a classic BLT sandwich. “It’s fantastic. The deli-style, pre-cooked lamb inspires new menu pathways, eases labor and creates excitement in the protein wars—I dig it. It checks all the boxes for me.”

The chef tested various options for the lamb prime rib. “Once I discovered a bacon-like consistency, I knew I wanted to create a handheld,” he says. A garden “overrun with green tomatoes” continued to inform his development of the Aussie Select Lamb Bacon, Fried Green Tomatoes and Basil Sandwich. “In an earlier version of the dish, the tomatoes were pickled,” he says. “But the texture and temperature of the fried green tomatoes were just too good with the lamb. I knew I had it.”

The rest of the build reflects other thoughtful considerations. “The bread was an easy call. I used sourdough in an early iteration, but it lacked the hearty quality and sweet flavor of wheat bread,” Aquilino explains. The rich texture of Japanese mayo featuring MSG added even more flavor depth. “Bonus points for trend splicing.” Basil leaves and Bibb lettuce round out the sandwich.

Aquilino characterizes his creation as a “monotony-breaker” and would even market it intentionally as such. “Menu fatigue has become a serious issue in both foodservice and retail. It’s important to add new proteins to provide an alternative to the overly farmed chicken, pork and beef,” he says. Rooted in familiarity, the sandwich gives diners a compelling reason to put a toe in fresh waters.

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Tomato Leaf Pesto, California Burrata and Roasted Tomato Toast

Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley

Aquilino considers himself “extremely fortunate” to be presented with many types of California cheeses for this recipe ideation project, ultimately settling on burrata as “a fantastic ingredient to use in a creative approach to a dish,” he says. The Tomato Leaf Pesto, California Burrata and Roasted Tomato Toast makes the rich, buttery cheese the star in a new way that leverages the enduring popularity of toasts, a category that Aquilino feels has not yet peaked, despite its ease of prep, the mix of textures and the sheer enjoyment of the flavor experience.

The tomato leaf pesto is a significant differentiator that further sets this toast apart from other variations. “The pesto was a function of seasonality and innovative thinking,” explains Aquilino. Readying to winterize a garden, he decided to harvest whole tomato plants—leaves and all. While he’d never had tomato leaf pesto himself, “I knew it could be done. I mean, why not? The leaves have a very neutral flavor, like a flat-leaf parsley, although not as grassy.” The tomato leaves are mixed with other traditional pesto ingredients, including basil leaves and stems, pine nuts and Real California Parmesan. “The tomato leaves complement basil very well, as they allow basil’s floral notes to come through.”

For the plating pictured here, the pesto is injected into the center of the burrata, and then cut open to deliver visual intrigue. In the recipe, Aquilino separates the larger ball into 1-oz. pieces, injecting the pesto into each and serving up a surprise factor with the first bite. While Aquilino has made his own burrata using California ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, he says the already prepared product led to more creative thinking. “Injecting the burrata was another function of playing around with this dish, wanting to bring in both whimsy and innovation.”

Aquilino toasts sliced ciabatta or focaccia in a pan with a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil. The toast then gets a drizzle of the tomato leaf pesto, before being covered with roasted grape tomatoes and garlic. The burrata is placed on top of the tomatoes and sprinkled with a small amount of micro arugula and torn basil leaves, as well as a garnish of oil and freshly cracked pepper. It’s a complex flavor and texture experience, he says. “There’s the spongy, toasted, roasted tones of the bread, plus the warm and slightly tart blistered tomatoes, which complement the creamy, slightly salty burrata, with the flowery pop of the pesto and basil. It’s a classic homage to Italian-American flavors, with a balance that feels like a warm hug from grandma.”

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Project Management: Summit F&B
Photography: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley