Veteran Chef Brings Classical Training–and Grandma’s Meatball Recipe–to Iconic Manhattan Restaurants

Fireman Hospitality Group’s corporate executive chef Brando De Oliveira oversees its 12 restaurants, which include Café Fiorello, Trattoria Dell’Arte and the Brooklyn Diner.

Chef Brando De Oliveira, a native of Bologna, Italy, tweaked his grandmother’s recipe for meatballs, which are now served at Fireman Hospitality Group’s four Italian restaurants -- Café Fiorello, Trattoria Dell’Arte, Bond 45 and Café Paradiso.

“This is a winner. It’s not that I came up with the idea. I took it from my grandmother and transformed it into a more sophisticated version,” said De Oliveira.

Café Paradiso, on West 65th Street, which opened in February, is the newest addition to the Fireman family of eateries, which are owned by famed New York restaurateur Shelly Fireman. It was closed this month for renovations and will reopen this week, serving up Italian dishes, like its bestselling pinwheel lasagna, which is named after De Oliveira. “When I come up with a dish that Shelly likes so much, he says, ‘Put your name on it’,” he explained.

When De Oliveira, who was trained at Le Cordon Bleu, first came to New York in 1989, he worked for Chef Charlie Palmer at Aureole, and after Sept. 11th, he met Fireman, and the rest is history. The 54-year-old just returned from Washington, D.C. and will soon head to Italy to meet with Fireman, who, he said, has plans to expand the business to Europe. “We never stop,” he said. “We’re always researching something,”

Did you always know you wanted to be a chef?

Oh yes, my family has boutique restaurants in Italy. I started as a dishwasher. For seven years I was a dishwasher in Bologna for my uncle. My parents are in the hotel business.

When you first came to the city, which neighborhood did you live in?

I lived in Bensonhurst, an Italian neighborhood. But, let me tell you, I wasn’t too happy there. I like the country, because in Italy we have farms. I said, “I got to get out of here. Brooklyn is too crazy for me.” So I moved to Summit, New Jersey.

I read that at Aureole, you wanted to start as a salad maker.

I remember the first day I gave my resume to Charlie and he said, “You’re overqualified.” I said, “Yes, I know.” He said, “Why do you want to work here?” I said, “I want to learn. I just came from Italy. I know Italian and French cuisine. Now I need to know American.” He said, “Where do you want to start? As a sous chef or a chef?” I said, “I want to start as a salad guy.” And he said, “No, I can’t put you as that, you’re overqualified.” I said, “No, I want it. Don’t worry.” So I worked with the salad guys, improved a little bit, and after two weeks, he said, “You’re good. Go to the sauté, they need you there.” In six months, he promoted me to chef.

What is the bestseller on Café Paradiso’s menu?

One of them is the lasagna, called Brando’s Lasagna. It’s a pinwheel lasagna.

Who are some famous people you’ve cooked for?

I cooked for George Bush, Clinton, Madonna, Beyonce, Bono. Hillary Clinton was just at Trattoria; she comes all the time. Kerry Washington, she’s a lovely person.

What are the best and worst parts of your job?

I don’t have worst parts. I love my job. When you love whatever you’re doing, nothing is bad for you, everything is good. Even if it’s bad, you say it’s good. I’m not negative, I’m always positive. I don’t have bad days, I have always great days.

To learn more, visit www.thefiremangroup.com