One of the biggest jobs in Chicago dining just got filled. Carnivale, which ranks among the largest restaurants in Chicago and certainly among the very largest with any kind of culinary reputation and local-sourcing bent (somebody even made a movie about that), has announced its new executive chef, to replace David Dworshak who left to start Takito Kitchen. His name is Rodolfo Cuadros, and he’s a native of Santiago de Cali in Colombia, who came to the U.S. at age 12 and was soon working as a dishwasher in New Jersey. He graduated from Johnson & Wales University and went on to work in many of the top Latin restaurants in the U.S. including as chef de cuisine at Alma de Cuba in Philadelphia and executive chef of Toro Toro in Miami, and Y-Four and Onda in New York City; his mentors included David Burke, Douglas Rodriguez and Richard Sandoval. He’s there now; we’ll be interested to see how customers of the mega-restaurant respond as he puts his stamp on the menu.
