Platelist: Chef Ken Oringer Brings Global Flavors to Boston

May 5, 2011 -- Executive chef Ken Oringer's restaurants encompass the cuisines of America, Mexico, Europe and the Far East, which is understandable given his exposure to diverse cultures early on.

His childhood was a microcosm of this international palate. He grew up in Paramus, N.J., just across the river from New York City's smorgasbord of ethnic flavors.

"Birthdays weren't going to Howard Johnson," he said. "We would go to Little Italy, street festivals in Chinatown -- with whole baby lambs on sticks -- and Greek festivals on the West Side."

Oringer started cooking at age 6.

"Believe me," he said, "it would piss my parents off to have me go into the kitchen and say, 'Move over, Mom, this needs more cumin.' ... I was a pain in the ass, but they encouraged me to cook, because I loved it."

By the time he was a teenager, Oringer was poring over cookbooks and watching Julia Child.

"It's kind of pathetic when you are going into high school, and your friends are going out, picking up girls and drinking, and I was with a buddy of mine whose parents owned a restaurant, making onion soup," he said.

After high school, Oringer wanted to go to cooking school, but his parents pushed him to get a business degree first, so he went to Bryant University in Rhode Island. But then he attended the Culinary Institute of America, because he said he needed to "follow the dream." When he graduated from the CIA, he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed."

Oringer fulfilled the prophecy with a rapid rise through the ranks of some of the top restaurants in the country. His first job was under Chef David Burke at the famed River Cafe, in Brooklyn. He moved on to be pastry chef at Al Forno, in Providence, R.I. Next, he joined the staff of Boston's Le Marquis de Lafayette, under Jean Georges Vongerichten.