Chef Cory Vitiello was born and raised in Brantford, Ontario and began cooking at age fifteen, starting his own catering business out of his family home. Following graduation from the esteemed Stratford Chef School, he completed his apprenticeship at Scaramouche restaurant in Toronto and went on to train overseas, landing at Cecconi’s in Melbourne, Australia. He returned home to take on the opening of the Drake Hotel in Toronto where he held the position of Chef de Cuisine for three years.
Since then, Cory has founded, owned and operated the award-winning restaurants The Harbord Room, THR & Co. and Flock Rotisserie and Greens, which opened its sixth Toronto location in 2019. Beyond a vast repertoire of television appearances, Cory has been named as the Ferrari North American Challenge Executive Chef (2017-18) and Head of Culinary Development Toronto for the Cactus Club Restaurants, and has partnered with 10tation Catering Company to bring his cuisine to life on a larger scale.
Step 1
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).
Step 2
In a stainless bowl, toss your mushrooms, 2 tbsp olive oil, shallot and thyme. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. The mushrooms should be dark golden brown and getting crispy around the edges.
Step 3
While the mushrooms are roasting, place the rosemary sprigs with butter and remaining olive oil in a small pan over very low heat. Fry the rosemary until the sprigs are crispy and brittle, taking care not to burn them. Remove the rosemary, lightly salt it and save for plating; reserve the oil for dressing the greens.
Step 4
Wash and slice your Swiss chard and toss it together with the endive in a stainless bowl, then lightly dress it with reserved rosemary-scented olive oil, sea salt, pepper and balsamic.
Step 5
Transfer the greens to a large serving platter. Top the greens with four slices of toasted sourdough that have been rubbed with olive oil and 1/2 the hazelnuts.
Step 6
At this point, your mushrooms should be nearly roasted. The greens can wait lightly dressed - don’t rush your shrooms. Ideally, these go on straight from the oven, hot and crispy.
Step 7
Pile the mushrooms in the centre of the dressed greens, nice and high. Crown the mushrooms with the ball of Ontario Burrata (or other soft creamy Ontario cheese) and garnish with the fried rosemary, remaining olive oil, a generous amount of balsamic and sea salt and the remaining hazelnuts.
Step 8
Finish the dish with a few twists of pepper over the cheese and another splash of olive oil if you feel it necessary.