A Blessed Chef
Jared Porter didn’t grow up wanting to be a chef.
“In high school, I didn’t do great academically and I didn’t think I’d go to college, so I needed to learn a skill,” says Porter, who attended Queen Creek High School.
After attending a presentation by the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT), which provides a variety of career training programs, Porter thought culinary arts sounded interesting. “When I was young, I watched cooking shows on PBS with iconic chefs like Martin Yan and Justin Wilson and thought it looked fun,” he says.
Porter studied culinary arts at EVIT while attending high school. His instructors encouraged him to participate in the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), which serves middle- and high-school students in Arizona and other areas across the country. C-CAP is a workforce development nonprofit that provides teens a pathway to success through culinary, job and life skills.
While he was a senior at Queen Creek High School, and also attending the culinary arts program at EVIT and participating in C-CAP, Porter got first restaurant job at Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Mesa, one of its first Arizona locations. He was hired as a prep cook and moved up to line cook.
“It was very busy, and I got thrown into the deep end,” Porter recalls. “It was a great opportunity to learn how a restaurant kitchen works at a young age. I liked that it requires a lot mentally and physically, which I appreciate to this day.”
Porter received a C-CAP scholarship and attended the Art Institute of Phoenix. “I was very blessed to have the opportunity to attend culinary school and have some amazing instructors,” he says. “I never thought I’d get further education after high school, and culinary school helped elevate my knowledge and level of cooking.”
While in culinary school, Porter got a job working at Vincent on Camelback with acclaimed French chef Vincent Guerithault, who has been an Arizona culinary icon for several decades.
“I owe a lot to Vincent,” says Porter. “He taught me speed, finesse, old-school techniques and how to use local ingredients.”
After graduating culinary school, Porter worked at Michael’s at the Citadel and helped to open La Grande Orange. One of his most memorable jobs was working for award-winning chef Michael White at Fiamma Trattoria at the former James Hotel in Scottsdale.
“As one of the foremost Italian chefs in the country, I admired Michael’s depth of knowledge and passion,” says Porter. “He took me under his wing. He exposed me to new techniques and ingredients and inspired my love of Italian food.”
One of Porter’s early career highlights was serving as executive chef for the opening of the Parlor Italian restaurant and pizzeria in central Phoenix at the age of 26. He recalls, “I had a lot of creative freedom. We started as an accessible neighborhood restaurant and evolved with a farm-to-table, seasonally driven menu that changed a few times a year. I spent five years there and it was a great time in my life.”
Porter spent a few years with Fox Restaurant Concepts in various roles including regional chef, responsible for opening restaurant locations in the Valley, as well as Tucson and Nashville. He is currently partner and executive chef at Tesota, which opened in central Phoenix in May offering comfort food with global influences.
Looking back on his career, Porter is thankful for what C-CAP taught him early on. “C-CAP provides a reality-based foundation of what is required to work in the hospitality industry—the fundamentals, work ethic and commitment that it takes,” he says. “I wouldn’t be where I am without C-CAP. I’m proud to have been a part of it.”
Porter appreciates the opportunities and support he was given throughout his career. “I’m blessed to have found something I enjoy doing and I feel like I do it well,” he says. “So many people gave me a chance and I try to pay it forward by mentoring young chefs.”
For more information visit www.ccapinc.org and www.tesotaphx.com.
