Joe Tartamella has an extensive culinary background in restaurants and hotels in Manhattan and New Jersey. He also competed on the 23rd season of Hell’s Kitchen. In March, he began as Executive Chef for Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J. It wasn’t a linear path, but Tartamella says becoming a club chef is the best decision he’s made for his career and his family.
“A big part of who I am comes from my life outside the kitchen,” he says. “I’m a husband and a father to two young daughters, ages 8 and 5, and they are a major source of motivation and grounding for me. I trained at the French Culinary Institute, which gave me a strong classical foundation, but the values I bring into the kitchen come just as much from being a parent and from growing up in my family’s bakery. Those early experiences shaped my respect for craft, discipline, and cooking with love. They’re principles I try to bring into the kitchen every day.”
As a first-generation Italian-American, Tartamella is incredibly proud of his heritage. He was also exposed to the culinary world early.
“My dad was born in Sicily. He started very young—nine years old—as a bread-baker,” Tartamella says. “He moved to the U.S., met my mom, and they opened a bakery together. From a young age, I developed a passion for working in kitchens.”
After attending college for a while, then working at his cousin’s pizzeria, Tartamella decided to follow his passion and went for a consultation at the French Culinary Institute in New York.
“I just wound up signing up,” he says. “I paid my way through culinary school, and then I started working in Manhattan. … I got an opportunity to work for Todd English. So I started as a cook at Ca Va Brasserie in the Intercontinental Hotel in Times Square. I think that’s where my culinary career flourished. Later on, I was promoted to chef de cuisine.”
Tartamella also spent time at the Todd English Food Hall at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, followed by the Park Hyatt New York, then Harvest Restaurant Group and the MC Hotel, both in New Jersey.
“Then I had the opportunity to go work at Felina in Ridgewood, New Jersey, an Italian-American restaurant,” he says. “Having the opportunity to really express myself with food from my heritage was I was something I was excited about. We wound up opening Felina Steak in Jersey City, and the Felina brand grew.”
That was when Hell’s Kitchen reached out on Instagram.
“At first, I thought it was a scam,” Tartamella says. “I consulted my wife, who said to give it a shot. I was really nervous about it. But I thought, ‘what do I have to lose?'”
Club + Resort Chef (C+RC): Can you share more about your time on Hell’s Kitchen and what that experience was like for you?
Joe Tartamella (JT): It was definitely a learning experience for me. I didn’t really know the show. I’d heard of it. I’d probably watched an episode or two, but I didn’t follow it. When you’re in your own kitchen every day, everything’s second-nature. You know where everything is because it’s like your home. But [on the show], nothing is second-nature, and you have Gordon Ramsay staring at you. It’s not fake. You really need to be in there and have your eye on the prize. I didn’t realize how intense it was going to be.
Being away from my wife and kids for a whole month was rough, not being able to call them rough, and I was just nervous. I was worried that I was going to be perceived as the hot-headed Italian guy from the East Coast, which I don’t think I am. If I could do it again, I think I would just be myself and not worry about that.
C+RC: Tell us about your decision to join Canoe Brook Country Club.
JT: A friend of mine had a good relationship with the chef at Canoe Brook. He was promoted F&B director, and he was looking for a chef to fill his position. At that time, a lot of my friends had started at country clubs. Stephen Yen was at Liberty National [Golf Club], and he spoke very highly about clubs. You have a better quality of life. There’s a bit more infrastructure when it comes to management and your team, and it gives you more opportunity to be a father, a husband. So I took that position, and it was the best decision I made. I really enjoy it.
The biggest difference I’ve noticed from my prior experience is the sense of connection. My background is rooted in luxury hotel operations, so the pace, structure, and expectations here were immediately familiar. But what I’ve truly come to appreciate in the private club world is getting to know the members and their families on a personal level. There’s something very meaningful about cooking for people regularly, learning their preferences, and being part of their traditions. I could see myself doing this for the next 20 years.
C+RC: Did you have specific goals of what you want to accomplish in your first year or so?
JT: My goal at CBCC is to elevate the culinary experience in a way that feels fresh, consistent, and member focused. Whether it’s a handmade pasta, a seasonal entrée, a garden-driven dish, a Sicilian pomodoro, a prime rib roast, or a NY-style bar pizza, I want everything that leaves the kitchen to reflect integrity, care, and a genuine love of cooking.
This first year has been about getting acclimated, introducing my style of cooking to the members and understanding what they’re looking for, as well as building relationships with both the members as well as the culinary team.
Chef Joe Tartamella’s Signature Chicken Scarpariello
My Executive Sous Chef, Ricardo Ocampo, has been at the club for 40 years, and his nephew, Marcos Ocampo, our Sous Chef, has been here for 32 years. They’ve shared so many stories and so much history about the club, and it has given me a profound appreciation for the sense of tradition, family values, and unity that exist here. Working alongside people who have dedicated their careers to this place is something I don’t take lightly.
I’m fortunate to collaborate closely with our incredibly talented mixologist, Dru Buritica. Dru and I share the same passion for quality, consistency, and creativity, and we’ve worked together on several member events—most recently our Tapas & Cocktail Class. It’s inspiring to partner with someone in the front of the house who brings the same energy, care, and pride to their craft as I do to mine.
I also work closely with our Banquet Chef, Frank DiNardo, who brings tremendous club experience and a strong culinary voice. Collaborating with him daily on ideas, menus, and execution has strengthened our culinary program and elevated member events in a meaningful way.
And I’m incredibly proud of our Pastry Chef, Julie Velasquez. This is her first position leading a pastry program, and she brings tremendous passion, creativity, and enthusiasm to the role. She has a great instinct for flavor and design, and I really enjoy mentoring her, collaborating with her, and helping her continue to grow. Watching her develop her voice as a pastry chef has been one of the most rewarding parts of my time here.
Ultimately, the culture we are building blends long-standing tradition with fresh energy. I have a talented, passionate team, and mentoring them is one of the most fulfilling parts of my job. I emphasize cooking with passion, love, and intent; respecting ing redients and recipes; and understanding the responsibility of cooking for members who trust us with their dining experiences. The unity, creativity, and pride in this kitchen are things I’m truly grateful for.
C+RC: How would you describe your own culinary style?
JT: Creatively, my food is rooted in New American cuisine with Italian-Mediterranean influence and French technique. I aim to cook with clarity and intention, focusing on great ingredients, clean flavors, and dishes that feel both refined and soulful. That identity shows through in several dishes that have become staples for our members: chicken scarpariello, the signature dish I created on Hell’s Kitchen, which has become a standout item here; our 14-ounce sage-crusted pork chop, which quickly became one of our most popular entrées; the fall spiced short rib with farro risotto, roasted chestnuts, wild mushrooms, honey nut squash, and spiced apple compote; and our roasted cod with furikake rice, bok choy, pickled daikon, and white miso beurre blanc.
A huge part of our identity has also become our house-made fresh pastas and our NY-style bar pizzas, both of which have been extremely well received. We make our pastas in-house, and the pizzas are made with organic bread flour and top-quality ingredients. These dishes represent the combination of craftsmanship, tradition, and member-driven creativity that I want the culinary program to stand for.
Even our simplest dishes have a story. The pomodoro sauce for our spaghetti pomodoro is my family’s recipe from Sicily—something my father, who was born there, made for us growing up. Bringing that sauce to the club has been a meaningful way to share a piece of my heritage with the membership.
We also created something special on Saturday nights with our President’s Prime Rib—a whole-prime-rib roast carved to order, paired with a twice-baked potato, garlic-chili spinach, and au jus. It has quickly become a beloved tradition and an example of the classic-yet-elevated approach I enjoy bringing to CBCC.
One of my favorite aspects of this job has been the opportunity to cook directly from the land we have here. On our South Course, we maintain a vegetable garden, and every summer we host a Chef’s Garden Dinner right on the course. This year’s theme was Italian and tomato-focused—we harvested a huge amount of tomatoes and built the entire menu around them. Cooking outdoors, on the grass, in front of our members was a powerful way to showcase who I am as a chef and how much pride I take in using hyper-seasonal, homegrown ingredients.
C+RC: Is there anything else you’d like to share about being a club chef?
JT: I don’t play golf, and I didn’t know much about clubs before. So I’m just surprised how happy I am. I wish I would have moved to clubs earlier in my career.
Then again, all those other experiences really prepared me for the position that I’m in now. I just didn’t realize how much I’d love being a chef at a country club. I think it’s the best job I’ve ever had.
