By Wendy Carron

There are no surprises, when you come from a long line of gifted chefs, your chances of being born with that talent are great. Reminiscing with Rico DeLucca, he proudly shows me a photo of his grandfather, Eugene Ramosco, and his twenty plus kitchen crew from the Ten Eyck Hotel. That talent was then passed on to Rico's mother, Antonette, who now lives in Los Angeles. Antonette was a chef to Frank Sinatra, as well as owning her own restaurant and creatively cooking for family and friends. There are no surprises, Rico is one of the most talented chefs we have the pleasure to dine with in the Berkshires.

At the tender age of twelve Rico began spinning pizzas at the East Side Cafe. Explaining to me that the East Side brick oven was so large when built in 1820, that they actually had to construct the cafe around it. This job lead him on his natural path. In the late sixties, a junior in high school, Rico was the first to be in a full co-op situation. Working at Johnny's restaurant as part of his school program he remained there for two years. At this time he added Blantyre to his resume and continued working both jobs. It was at Blantyre where he first had the opportunity to work with Bernie DeWolfe, from whom he learned Mediterranean cooking and was inspired.

In the early 70's Antonette DeLucca opened a restaurant in Dalton where Rico worked off and on for 12 years. In the same time period, Rico and partners opened The Spaghetti Factory, in the spot where Debbie Wong's now stands. It was Berkshire County's only Five Star restaurant at the time, that restaurant remained in business for about five years. Rico and his brother opened OB Joyfuls, on North Street. You would be walking along on the West side of the street and then, one quick turn and down the stairs you went into another world. OB Joyful's was named after one of Pittsfields most remembered street people. It was a club that fed you and offered you some incredible musical talent. Onward and upward about 1977 came DeLucca's Dining Car, also on North Street in Pittsfield. Between the three restaurants Rico was a busy man, creating new tastes and learning the business.

In 1979 Rico had become quite good at going in and helping new businesses to either get off the ground or get a good push in the right direction, He was called in on many different occasions to do exactly that. For his mother in a new Los Angeles venture "Canzanos". Then it was off to Hartford, opening "Spencers" billiards and wine. It wasn’t until 1981 that Rico settled back in the Berkshires to Chef at Seven Hills in Lenox.

Rico's passion for food and how important preparation is has kept him working on a cook book, for years. He has told me that he now has a publisher and is working daily with a friend, as they e-mail questions and answers back and forth. The importance of why to add certain things and the most important, when they must be added to give the dish all the flavor expected. He talks very excitedly about this project coming into fruition and really wants to take cooking to a new level of understanding for the person reading his book. He admits candidly, that one of his favorite things to do, is go into the refrigerator and turn whatever he can find into a culinary masterpiece...and from my tasting of his cooking, he can do just that. It is a pleasure to dine where Rico is cooking, with sauces extrodinaire and everything created to perfection. He is a hidden treasure in the Berkshires.

Rico is currently the chef at Mazzeo's in Pittfield