What a Night!

Those of you living in or regular visitors to the Dallas area will know Sipango, which in the mid-1990s was perhaps the hottest restaurant in Dallas. The two people most closely associated with the success of Sipango and some other culinary ventures since are Chef Mathew Antonovich and his good friend, Ron Corcoran. While doing a little advance work for ZestFest 2015, taking place January 23-25 2015, show producer Greg Bagarosy with Next Food Network Star contender, Sarah Penrod, in tow got treated to some culinary magic at a party hosted by Corcoran and Antonovich.

The party took place at Corcoran's house and the meal was prepared by Chef Antonovich. For aspiring star chef Sarah, the real treat was hanging out in the kitchen with Chef Antonovich. Mr. Antonovich is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Johnson & Wales University. Antonovich has cooked at the James Beard House as a participant in the Discovery Series. He has been honored to cook for five United States Presidents. Presently Chef Antonovich is working on Memoirs of a Chef to tell his journey as a professional chef for 40 years and is still cooking today. Antonovich is an active food service advisor for a variety of fortune 500 companies and continues to create menus for some of the biggest names in the food business. He is constantly developing new food concepts for a variety of independent restaurant companies.

 

 

Chef Antonovich founded Culinary Concepts, MACC a food service advisory company in 1994. In 2008 Antonovich re-established the company in LouisvilleKentucky to develop new restaurant concepts. The company has developed a variety of new concepts to include; Sipango, Napa River Grille, Z’s Oyster Bar & Steak House, III Forks Steak House, Mozz, Mozzarella Bar & Enoteca and Mozzaria, Italian Eatery & Birreria Gastro Pub. Antonovich consults for Fortune 500 food companies doing menu research & development. The company provides a variety of culinary services to include, new produce development, bench work ideations and creative menu and product development. Other projects include developing a wholesale Artisan Bakery and Fast Casual Pizzeria & Artisan Salad concept in the works. In 2010 Antonovich founded an upscale Italian concept called MOZZ, Mozzarella Bar & Enoteca. The restaurant was voted "Best New Restaurant 2011" by Louisville Magazine.

Born a couple of years apart in the same New York hospital, Corcoran and Antonovich first met in California in the 1980s, when both worked at the famed Hotel Bel-Air. Antonovich had taken over the lease of an nearby apartment and needed a roommate. He heard that the hotel had just hired a new room service manager who happened to be Ron Corcoran. Corcoran had just moved from Texas and was looking for a place to stay. The pair moved in together and quickly became great friends. Their careers took them off on separate paths for many years until they eventually ended up in Dallas, where they co-launched Sipango in March 1994.

Needless to say, Greg and Sarah got treated to a lot of great food and conversation. What a huge opportunity for Ms. Penrod to have the chance to gain some knowledge and inspiration from Ron and Mathew, two true stars of the restaurant and culinary worlds. Maybe we'll get them to pay us a visit at ZestFest this coming January.