When internationally-known chef, television personality and restaurant owner Emeril Lagasse calls you at your restaurant in Bowling Green from his offices at The Food Network in New York City, you take that call.

That’s exactly what happened to Dominic Tedesco last fall. Tedesco is the executive chef at The Sicilian restaurant on Fountain Square in Bowling Green.

Last June, Emeril Lagasse, host of the popular cooking show Emeril Live!, was having a cooking contest on the Internet for new recipes involving the common potato. Tedesco entered a recipe he’d created for The Loaded Potato Pizza. He never expected to be called back and promptly forgot all about it. But, in September, one of the Emeril Live! producers called to say that Tedesco’s potato pizza was one of the top five finalists. If that wasn’t enough, it wasn’t 15 minutes later when Emeril himself phoned Tedesco to tell him “you’re the winner.” As winner, Emeril said, Tedesco and a guest would be flown to New York to appear on Emeril Live!

That got the ball rolling, and, in October, Alan Madison, producer, and his film crew arrived in Bowling Green to shoot “background footage” in preparation for Dominic’s appearance on the show. They filmed at the restaurant and at Tedesco’s home as he demonstrated how he makes a pizza.

In November, Dominic Tedesco and his friend were flown (as Emeril’s guests) to The Big Apple for a 4-day weekend. And guests of Emeril Live! are treated like royalty. Not only was Tedesco chauffeured around in a limousine, but they were booked at the lavish and historic Algonquin Hotel on 44th Street in the heart of Manhatten.

On the day the show was to be taped, Tedesco arrived at the Food Network television studios at 11:00 am for a 1:00 pm taping. Tedesco was slightly distressed to see a long line of people waiting to get in to see the popular cable program live. He wondered if he’d have to wait in this long line on a cold New York morning. But he was greeted by name by a representative of the show and taken around the side of the building and into a private entrance. Amid heavy security, Tedesco was led to the “green room” which was full of food and refreshments, of course. In the hectic environment, another representative of the show explained the rules and what to expect during the taping.

About an hour before the show began, Tedesco was allowed into the studio proper to get familiar with bright lights and the studio audience as they filed in from the outside line. Once Emeril Lagasse arrived on the set the taping began and Bowling Green’s own chef Dominic Tedesco was sitting right at the counter being congratulated for his winning recipe. (Tedesco noted that the show has a fully-equipped kitchen behind the scenes and Emeril made The Loaded Potato Pizza on the air from Tedesco’s recipe.)

“They got it pretty close,” Tedesco said, “but not exact.” Nevertheless, he was the winner of the potato recipe contest. Bam!!

“Emeril is a very skilled chef,” a still star-struck Tedesco said. “He’s full of energy, just like you see on television. Communicating excitement and passion for cooking is part of what makes a great chef, and Emeril has it. With Emeril, what you see is what you get!”

If you want to see Tedesco on Emeril Live! and find out how to make a potato pizza, tune into Emeril Live! March 17 at 8:00 pm on local cable channel 59. (Here’s a hint: The Loaded Potato Pizza is a combination of pizza dough, mashed garlic potatoes, sauted onions, provolone and fontinia cheeses, fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh bacon crumbles, cracked black pepper and onion salt!)

So, how does a chef go from his adopted home of Bowling Green and make it all the way to the big time and a television appearance in New York City? Dominic Tedesco did it by raising the craft of cooking to a personal art form.

“I’ve known since I was nine-years-old that I wanted to make cooking great food my life’s work,” Tedesco said in a recent interview at The Sicilian.

Dominic learned to cook from his mother, Teresa, in the family restaurants in Louisville. As part of a large Italian family (he has seven brothers), Dominic was expected to help in the family business. And, from a very young age, he was given the responsibility of preparation duties at Tedesco’s Restaurant (he was even permitted to do the cooking at the restaurant in his mother’s absence). Here he learned how to create the sauces, pastas, breads, meatballs and sausages in the true Italian tradition. He learned how to flavor the dishes with spices, herbs and olive oils, and, how to use color and slicing to enhance the overall presentation of the food.

His parents retired from the restaurant business in 1976 and Dominic’s interest in cooking continued at Purdue University where he took many culinary classes and a stint with TGI Friday’s in Texas.

At this time he was using his training from the family restaurant and more formal instruction at college to create his own recipes. Tedesco wanted to create an original style all his own.

“Recipes are just recipes,” Tedesco said, “and they’re fine if you want to recreate what someone else has done. I want to create new tastes. For example, in my Italian sausage I use elements from my mother and her family’s recipe, and parts from my father and his family’s recipe . . . but then I add my own twist and a totally new flavor is created.”

Originally from Jeffersonville, Indiana, Tedesco moved to Bowling Green three years ago as part of a franchising concept based on the original Tedesco’s Restaurant. When that venture didn’t pan out as he’d expected, he decided he wanted to stay in Bowling Green and Tedesco and business partners launched The Sicilian in June 2003. The casual, upscale restaurant was originally located in a hotel on Scottsville Road but recently relocated next door to The Capitol Arts Center on Fountain Square.

Tedesco is a restaurateur in the old world tradition. He feels it’s his job to supervise the quality of the food coming out of his kitchen, and to interact with his guests at their tables. He has even impressed guests with his ability to “recreate” dishes they remember from their childhood that are not on his menu. He does this by listening to the guest describe the sight, smell and taste of the lost favorite, and, more times than not, he can come up with the request right on the spot.

Is cooking an art?

“A culinary artist must have very sharp senses,” Tedesco explained, “and highly trained senses are what separates chefs from cooks. I need an appreciation of fragrance and texture, and, most important, a knowledge of how to combine them for the best result.

“A culinary artist sees raw ingredients much like an oil painter sees raw colors on a palette. The question is the same for both: how do we combine these wonderful things? How do we make something exquisite for the people? I need to be able to envision an original finished product from the raw peppers, onions, oils, spices and meats.”

Tedesco says he has learned to differentiate herbs and spices, blindfolded. And even various brands and levels of olive oils taste different to him. The one mistake everyday cooks tend to make, according to Tedesco, is to overuse a favorite spice.

“They bury every dish in this one spice,” he says, “and lose the original flavor of the main ingredient in the process. Spice lightly.”

Tedesco believes in tradition and loyalty. He is proud of his immigrant parents, Giovanni and Teresa. He recounts how his father was captured by the American forces during World War II in North Africa. As a member of the Italian army, Giovanni was held captive at Camp Attebury in Columbus, Indiana. After Mussolini was killed, the Italians joined the Allied Forces and Giovanni was able to finish out his term as a U. S. soldier and was stationed at Fort Knox. After the war, his parents were married in Italy and resided there for a few years before returning to the United States where they opened the first Tedesco’s in the Milner Hotel in Louisville.

On his own, Tedesco has won numerous cooking awards and competitions. He won the 2001 International Traditional Pizza Contest sponsored by Pizza Today magazine and the Wisconsin Cheese Board, the 2000 Best of the Midwest in Chicago for his seafood pizza and is a member of the U. S. Pizza Team. Recently, he won 5th Place in the World’s Fastest Pizza Maker competition in Columbus, Ohio. And, this month, Dominic will be taking his winning deep dish pizza to the international competition at the Las Vegas Hilton.

He is also active in the Bowling Green community. He is on the Advisory Board at Bowling Green Technical College and Culinary Department (he teaches basic and Italian cooking there); he’s active with the Bowling Green/Warren County Community Education; and, he also does monthly cooking demonstrations at Dillard’s.

Dominic Tedesco hopes to follow in Emeril Legasse’s footsteps someday with his own show on The Food Network. He is also working on a cookbook which is set for publication in a few months.

Tedesco: “The art of cooking has to do with presenting a vibrant color and taste experience to your restaurant audience. It’s not dissimilar to performance art. It all happens right before your eyes!”

Watch Dominic on Emeril Live! March 17, and go to our website (http://Amplifier.KY.net) for advance recipes from his new cookbook.

SALAMI SALAD WITH TOMATOES AND MOZZARELLA

A festive salad that can be served before the meal, or as the entrÈe!

Ingredients:

1 pound salami, cut into 1-inch pieces

6 tomatoes, diced

1 pound mozzarella, cut into 1-inch pieces

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil, for drizzling

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine salami, tomatoes, and mozzarella.

Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

Drizzle with olive oil and toss well.

BRAISED MONKFISH

An easy meal with a very under-rated fish . . . it is delicious!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, peeled, an ìxî cut into the root end, and stuck with 2 whole cloves

15 pearl onions, peeled and an ìxî cut into the root end

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 cup dry red wine

1 teaspoon tomato sauce

1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, cored and pureed

1 cup white wine

Salt and pepper

2 O pounds skinless monkfish fillet, cut into 3 to 4-inch cubes

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped to yield 2 tablespoons

Instructions:

In a heavy-bottomed casserole, heat æ of the oil over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, pearl onions, bay leaf, and garlic.

Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.

Cook a few more minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the wine, and cook 5 minutes, continuing to stir constantly.

Add the tomato sauce, pepper puree, and white wine.

Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the fish and simmer until it is opaque, about 5 minutes.

Remove the onion and add the remaining tablespoon olive oil.

Sprinkle the parsley and divide evenly among 6 warmed bowls.

ORANGE GELATO

Better than ice cream . . . hands down!

Ingredients:

3 navel oranges

1 cup water

æ cup sugar

6 large egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Finely grate the zest from the oranges and squeeze the juice. There should be about 3 tablespoons zest and 2/3 cup juice.

In a medium saucepan, combine the water and the sugar.

Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until very light.

Slowly add the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream, whicking constantly.

Pour into a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until slightly thickened.

Strain the mixture into a medium bowl, and set it in a larger bowl partially filled with ice water.

Stir in the orange juice and zest.

Let cool, stirring occasionally. (Or chill overnight in refrigerator.)

In a large chilled bowl, using an electric mixer with chilled beaters, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

Fold the cream into the cooled orange custard mixture.

Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturerís instructions.

Transfer to a covered container and place in freezer until serving time.

If the gelato becomes too firm, place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.