Nate Gravina, Executive Chef
Born and raised in Black Hawk, Colorado, there was never really much to do at a young age. In a family with 2 working parents and 2 siblings, days away from school were usually spent terrorizing each other. I don’t think we ever went one day home alone without breaking something! Overtime, the havoc grew tiresome, and I found a new place to hang out on days alone: the kitchen. Eventually I was spending hours in the kitchen making pastas and burritos for the family. Video games, guitars, BB guns, everything else that occupied my peers didn’t appeal to me, but my curiosity towards food kept me entertained for hours!
Despite my love for cooking, in my younger years, I had never considered it a field I wanted to pursue professionally. I did my time in the casinos as a valet, door person, and a small amount of short order cooking as well as a buffet captain. While I was very curious about how and why food does what it does, I never explored past my own kitchen and “experiments” to learn about the culinary field. This all changed when I turned 19.
In the summer of 2005, I moved to Las Vegas and acquired a job at the Palms as a banquet chef. I figured my time working as a buffet captain in Black Hawk would have given me some sort of know how. Completely incorrect. I went from opening cans and bags in steam tables to learning how to make everything from scratch. I was flying by the seat of my pants and loving every minute of it, thanks to the patience and willingness to teach of Chef Marcus O’Brien.
Returning to Colorado in August of 2005, I spent time at Nine75 North under chef Deryk Schnepf, Chef Nick Palone, and on to work years under chef Charley Sinden at Nine75 as well as opening the Lobby restaurant.
While it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite cuisine, I have a taste for southwestern flavors, incorporating a lot of fresh and dried chilies as well as common south-of-the-border spices. The infusion of these flavors can fit into any cuisine adding a unique flair to any plate. I absolutely love working with Colorado meats, I don’t think anything comes close to Colorado sourced lamb, pork, or beef flavored with locally grown herbs. Throw it together in a marinate of some of Colorado’s amazing craft beer or wine, and you have a simple dish that can’t be beat!
Living in Colorado, I learned early on the benefits of this great environment. Fresh produce at our fingertips and local farms providing top notch animals. Colorado has an amazing beer and wine scene, as our craft beers here are second to none and great fun to pair and cook with! I’m proud to be frome a state that is known for putting our best foot forward no matter what we are creating.
From music and art to an exquisite food and drink scene, we have proven that Colorado can produce anything well and this is a culinary scene I’m more than proud to be a part of and am excited for what the future holds for Colorado, it’s chefs, and the diners that make it all possible.