Today we’d like to introduce you to Damiano Carlotto
Hi Damiano , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Damiano Carlotto, I was born in a small town by the Dolomites near Venice, Italy in 1992. My story, like many out there, started in my teen years as an unruly kid that didn’t know what he wanted to do in life. I was very good in school, but at the same time couldn’t stand it. I recognized I had an “artist soul” that made me restless, always craving to do more, discover, create, learn. From design to learning musical instruments, drawing, painting, and riding motorcycles, I was always up for something daring and adventurous .
I was the classic kid that a teacher would say ” He’s very smart but he is wasting his potential.” At 14 years old in Italy the summer between middle school and high school, every student visits all sorts of different specialized schools across career spectrums. There were high schools for architecture, mechanical engineering and design, accounting, basically for any career out there was a specialized school. A lot of those “jobs” were actually very interesting, some required more studying than others, some took longer and involved years of apprenticeship. All those things weren’t really appealing for me, but the thing that I didn’t want the most was to be stuck behind a desk, several hours a day, in front of a computer. The thought of that scenario literally scared me, it felt like a nightmare. I was looking around for options for something dynamic, engaging, stimulating. My fist idea was to be an entrepreneur, creating some sort of business, I didn’t know what sort of business or had any product or field in mind, but that seemed so exciting. Unfortunately, that path would have required some degree from some of those unappealing and tedious schools so I was still trying to find my way.
My parents and older siblings, I’m the youngest of 4, were trying to support me, answering any questions and giving me their advice without forcing anything on me. My siblings all took different career paths, mechanical design, architecture, and chemistry. My dad was a proud blue collar worker, and my mom was an former accountant that left her career to take care of the four of us. So even there I was lucky that I could see all these career paths and what they truly implied. I wasn’t ecstatic about any of those paths, I was and still am very proud of them, but they didn’t fit me. I wanted adventures in my life.
One day, I honestly I can’t recall why, I found myself talking with some of my friends about being a chef, maybe the conversation started from one of those Cooking TV shows that were starting to be popular in early mid two thousands, or maybe we were just talking about someone’s uncle that had a small restaurant and always tells the tales of when he was a young cook in Paris in the eighties. Anyhow I started to look into it. I took a trip to the Culinary Institute, talked to professors, asked some family friends in the restaurant business. This is when I started to fall in love with the idea of being a chef. Anyone I talked to, regardless of appearance or point in life, they all had crazy stories of a life of travels and adventures, a trunk full of memories that most people wouldn’t even imagine.
So the decision was made, I decided that I will be a chef. The idea being able to be “creative” and bring my “art” to people anywhere in the world travelling free, that was the dream.
My parents weren’t super exited about the idea, they were worried about all the sacrifices it takes to be in this line of business, but nonetheless they supported me.
I will never forget, after an other discussion were I was discarding a certain school because it meant too much studying and I didn’t like it, my father told me :” If you go to school and study, I don’t get any smarter, you do. And the more you learn the better your life will be.”
I didn’t realize it at that time, that phrase got imbedded in my mind, and that is exactly what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years. In my own way maybe, but I never stopped learning and improving myself.
And that is how my journey started with 5 years of culinary institute, working in some local restaurants most nights after school. Following that were years of travel around Italy and Europe, meting amazing people and creating wonderful memories. From beautiful Hotels in the Alps in winter, to breathtaking resort on the beach at summer, winery, city restaurants in Italy and abroad. I was incredibly lucky to meet incredible coworkers and chefs that inspired and taught me priceless knowledge and work ethic. Finally in 2016 I had the opportunity to come to America, a new journey, a new challenge was offered to me.
Since then I’ve been working in many restaurant here in Salt Lake City, bringing my knowledge and creativity to the American public. It has been an incredible journey, and I am very grateful for all the love and support from all the people I met along they way. Patrons and coworkers likewise made my dream come true, loving my works as well as allowing and pushing me to constantly grow.
After many year I can proudly say I am part of one of the best restaurant in SLC, but still I am not “arrived”, I’m not done. I’m still looking forward to what the future will bring me, and that excite me.
If you ask me how I got where I am today, the answer is complicated. But I could be summarized in Never stop moving forward and find and surround yourself with people with the same mindset. That with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, will make the dream come true.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Restaurant industry can bring you a lot of “rewards” such as money, fame, peoples loves and admiration.
Surely thought it involves many hardships and sacrifices. The biggest struggle I think is the lifestyle. When everyone else is celebrating holidays and vacations, that is the busiest time for a restaurant. That makes it difficult to spend time with your loved ones, and form me that is the biggest struggle to cope with.
Having to learn a new language, starting from down low on the hierarchical ladder and work your way up again and again are also very common hardship. Getting the demographic you’re working in to understand your concept is an other one. But finding a work/life balance seems to be the hardest challenge of them all.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I currently am the executive chef of Matteo Italian Restaurant in SLC Utah. My primary job is to develop the menu and lead the kitchen but that is just the basic. What I really do is way more than that. One of the most exciting things I do is collaborate with the business owner in growing the business. I also work with patrons for creating custom menus and events, sometime is a simple birthday, some other is a catering for an NBA team. On a daily basis I coach and mentor my team as well as improve myself in the process.
The thing I’m most proud of is my creativity, of course I am very proud of my Italian heritage and expertise, but my creativity allows me to tap into a higher level of culinary experience and I believe that is also what set me apart from others. Being able to switch between classic, nouvelle cuisine, asian, etc
My coworkers also admire my relentless strive for improvement, as well as my open minded and understanding nature.
What matters most to you? Why?
what matters most to me at work are two things To have nice and serene work environment to allow us the creation and delivery of our product at the best of our capability. And a customer base that understand and love what we do and why we do it. That is very important to me, probably coming from the artist side of my personality, nothing is worst than someone asking to change a creation or to make someone else creation in my own restaurant. I believe a restaurant menu is partially the identity of the restaurant as well as the Chef’s one.
