Cape & Islands News

Enthusiastic Chef John revels in Wampanoag cooking

John Marcellino draws fans at Roche Brothers, viewers to television show

Chef John Marcellino, shown here with some of his favorite ingredients, has acquired a devoted following at the Roche Brothers supermarket in Mashpee.

Hopes to open restaurant at proposed casino

By James Kinsella

Ask Robin Marcellino how she came to fall in love with her husband, Chef John Marcellino, and she responds, "It was a type of energy he exudes. It's just very interesting and a lot of fun. He's so upbeat and energetic."

Upbeat energy defines Chef John Marcellino.

It's there in his interaction with customers at the Roche Brothers supermarket in Mashpee, where he puts on cooking demonstrations three days a week.

It's there in the cooking show he does with his wife, Cape Cod Cooking, which can be seen on Comcast and at the Roche Brothers Web site.

It's there when he talks about his life, or cooking, or the Mashpee Wampanoag, of which he is a member.

It's pretty much there all the time.

Cooking and enthusiasm infuse his life.

"I have been in the restaurant business forever," Chef John said. "I started out washing dishes. I think I was about 13."

Upbeat energy defines Chef John Marcellino. Cooking and enthusiasm infuse his life.

His father, he said, effectively would lease him out to do work for other people. At the end of the day, he'd get ice cream rather than money.

One day, his father brought him over to what then was known as the Country Inn, on Sisson Road in Harwich Port, where the owner set him washing dishes.

That day, Chef John literally got a taste of the restaurant business, eating filet mignon and ice cream back in the kitchen.

"OK, so you come back tomorrow," the owner told him.

"Then I realized I had a job," Chef John said. "I was making minimum wage, I think it was $2.10 an hour."

In the coming years, he stayed with his mother in New Orleans, where she worked as a waitress.

"I loved it," he said. "I started doing cooking."

He would go on to do all sorts of restaurant jobs, from waiting tables and tending bar to working in the kitchen as a cook and then a chef.

Then, in what turned out to be a key move, he began teaching gourmet cooking classes on the side at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

At the time, Chef John was wondering how he could get out of the restaurant business, with its long hours and demanding schedule. He was getting tired of having to work on holidays, of having to work on Mother's Day rather than spend it with his mother.

Three years ago, he started doing demonstrations at Roche Brothers in Mashpee, which is also where he met his wife.

A student who was impressed with his presentation brought him to the attention of a producer at Channel 10 in Portsmouth, Va. Soon he was doing a cooking show at the station.

He would go on to do cooking demonstrations at Whole Foods supermarkets in Maryland and Virginia.

Three years ago, he started doing demonstrations at Roche Brothers in Mashpee, which is also where he met his wife.

Taken with her from the moment he saw her, he put on the full-court press, offering her some New York strip steak he had just prepared, telling her he did a television show, and offering to take her out.

She was skeptical, turning down the steak and spurning his offer.

Then she ran into a friend of hers who worked at the store.

"Does this guy really have a TV show?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's Chef John," he said, and brought her to the front of the store to show her a poster that advertised the show.

She decided to give Chef John a chance. Eighteen months ago, they were married.

The chef not only gained a wife, but a television cooking partner for "Cape Cod Cooking," which they tape at Cornerstone Kitchens in Mashpee Commons.

A communications major at Emerson College in Boston, she's at ease in front of the camera. While she calls herself his sidekick, Robin comes across as an equal partner, their easy banter reminiscent of classic broadcast couples.

Chef John acknowledges that they provide viewers with a yin and yang experience, with her healthy foods acting as a counterpoint to his more indulgent approach.

"Her food is better for you, my food tastes better," he said. "She's the good cop, I'll be the bad cop."

The show also has given Chef John an opportunity to spread the gospel of Mashpee Wampanoag cooking, which is based on the food that the tribe long has harvested from the Cape and its waters.

Though he said the Wampanoag were mainly farmers who grew vegetables, "what really says what the Wampanoag people are is the seafood."

For example, he said "quahog" is the Wampanoag word for "large clam."

A Wampanoag meal prepared by Chef John would include stuffed quahogs, whose texture he takes care to ensure is a bit grainy, like the sand of Mashpee beaches, rather than mushy; tenderloin of venison, traditionally cooked somewhat rare, which Chef John said reflects the interest of hungry tribal members to get on with the eating; steamed whole fish; and popcorn sweetened with honey.

Conscious of his tribal heritage, Chef John said he does a lot of meals for the elders of the tribe, seeing it as a way to contribute the way a carpenter or a plumber might help.

Further, should the tribe, which last year received federal recognition, succeed in opening a casino, Chef John would want to open a restaurant there to be known as Johnny Wampanoag's. Its goal, aside from serving delicious food, would be expose a wider audience to Wampanoag cooking.

"When he's not here, and people ask for him, I say, 'Can I help you?' And they say, "No, you cannot help me. I want Chef John.'"
                                  - Jim Lundy
                           Roche Brother

Meanwhile, Chef John sees himself at Roche Brothers as an ambassador of the store. Linked to his cooking demonstrations are his public address announcements, which come across like the highly charged patter of a Top 40 disc jockey. (It's no accident: the chef also has worked in radio.)

"He's a great asset to the store," said Jim Lundy, manager of the Mashpee supermarket. "He's got a great personality. It's all about customer service, taking care of the customer. He takes the time, he listens to people."

Lundy said the chef has built a fiercely loyal following among Roche Brothers customers.

"When he's not here, and people ask for him, I say, 'Can I help you?' And they say, "No, you cannot help me. I want Chef John.'"

Given his energy, Robin Marcellino said, there's never a dull moment with Chef John.

"I feel like the luckiest girl in the world," she said. "I met the man of my dreams, and I get to work with him, too."