At his home in Massapequa Park, Christopher Spinosa works in his kitchen, experimenting with different ingredients to make a delicious dinner. While some chicken thighs defrost in a pot, Spinosa mixes orange honey with water that will turn into a syrup perfect for tossing some roasted carrots in.
Spinosa, 25, graduated from the University of Connecticut with a major in music. In between semesters at UConn, he worked at a restaurant in his hometown.
His job was to do prep work for the kitchen, and as time went on, he started getting better and better at it. “One day the sous-chef comes down and sees what I’m doing and says, ‘Nice cuts, Chris.’ It was nice ‘cause it was like that little victory moment. Once he gave me those words of encouragement I was like, ‘Alright, I can do something with this.’”
After graduating from UConn, Spinosa’s mother told him to look into the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in the financial district of Manhattan. He went to check it out, and ended up enrolling.
Spinosa’s first real chef job at the tail end of culinary school in 2016 was working for Jean-Georges at an Eastern Asian food spot in the Meatpacking district, which is unfortunately no longer open. Over the next year or so, Spinosa worked at several different spots and gained experience working with different cuisines such as seafood, new American and French. Now at Golda, a Mediterranean restaurant in the depths of Brooklyn, Spinosa is a sous-chef, helping to run the kitchen and manage the restaurant as a whole.
Christopher Spinosa plates a dinner of roasted chicken and sautéed carrots. Photo by Annie O’Sullivan.
What’s your favorite thing about cooking?
Cooking for my friends. Outside of work.
At work, I learn a lot and I love going into work and having my chef say, “Hey, let me teach you about this,” or “Let me show you something cool about that.” However, the best thing is nights like these when I’m experimenting and I kind of get to show off to my friends. If I could have a new person come to my house every night and try my food, I would love that. I know I can
make food that actually makes people feel good. That’s really what it’s all about for me.
Carrots roast in a honey-water syrup. Photo by Annie O’Sullivan.
Has anyone ever told you that cooking isn’t a serious craft?
I have yet to run into a person like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if I find them very soon. Because there’s always that stigma or those stupid jokes like, “Go make me a sandwich,” or “Go back to the kitchen.” If you tell me to go back to the kitchen, I will. And I’m going to make something delicious.
Why do you feel cooking is an art?
Every job has its disciplines, right? Art has more of a discipline because you’re giving up the knowledge that you could be doing something that maybe you’re okay at, and be making proportionally more money and be easily content. Right? Cooking is an art because your canvas is very clearly laid out in front of you—in most places, it’s white. Every single one of your mistakes will be shown, and all of your awesome perfections and successes will also show. Just like any kind of artist.
It’s the same deal with being a photographer, being a painter, being a musician. You have to maintain mental grit to maintain whatever it is you’re doing. Even when you’re having a horrible week or month. You keep waking up, brushing your teeth, and you go right back to it. And I have definitely done that a lot. That’s another aspect of art. When you’re still drawn back to it, even when you’ve been beaten down. You just get up and you think, “I’m going to destroy it today.”