Chef Dean Diluciano has a very “well-rounded” culinary career. It started in a pizza shop in Elyria, moved to Downtown Cleveland, then on to Manhattan. It came full circle back home to Lorain County. As executive chef at Lorain County Community College’s (LCCC) Conference and Dining Services, Diluciano is in a position that showcases his talents and his lifelong passion for food.
At the age of 10, he started to learn basic culinary skills from whom he describes as “the greatest chefs,” his mother and his grandmothers. At just 13, he entered his first professional kitchen, making pizzas at DePolo’s in Elyria. Still unsure of a career path, he later attended LCCC and then Kent State University, with an eye toward a career in broadcast journalism.
“I didn’t know back then that cooking food was what I was going to do,” says Diluciano, “I only knew that I loved it. So, I went back to school, this time at the Pennsylvania Institute for the Culinary Arts.”
Professional Career
Accepted first executive position at Classics, a four-star restaurant at Omni Hotel. Joins Manhattan-based Restaurant Associates, where he opens the company’s Severance Hall dining facilities in Cleveland, adding other upscale venues including the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and Cleveland Museum of Art. Diluciano has also held executive chef roles with Bon Appetit Management Company and Zack Bruell Restaurant Group.
Present position
“We do everything from simple box lunches to fine dining served in the Spitzer Conference Center,” says Diluciano.
Fine Dining Favorite
Braised beef short ribs, marinated with mirepoix and garlic and braised slowly for six hours in a cabernet or merlot to create a reduction. Perch atop a creamy polenta infused with mascarpone that’s dusted with a hint of parmesan.
“For a little added crunch and color, I like to finish it off with a fine julienne pepper relish of red, green and orange peppers,” says Diluciano. “And then call it a day.”
Dean Diluciano, LCCC's Conferencing and Dining Services
1005 N. Abbe Road, Elyria, 440-366-4100, lorainccc.edu/spitzer
