New chef brings ‘good taste’ and know-how to RIT campus kitchens

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A. Sue Weisler | photographer

Stephen Kingston is on board as RIT’s new executive chef.

Stephen Kingston knows how to whet the palate when he speaks of the diverse array of foods available on the RIT campus—from just like mama-used-to-make beef barley soup and Thanksgiving Day-style turkey dinners, to cold melon soup and beef barbecue with pineapple corn bread, pastas and eggplant parmesan, vegetarian entrées and specialty fruit salads, and healthy choice menu items like Tuscan pork loin adorned with a canopy of apples. And let’s not forget the before-and-after palate pleasers—appetizers like mini-quiche and Swedish meatballs to sweet-tooth delicacies ranging from muffins and cookies, to designer cakes and souffles.

Since May, Kingston has been overseeing a staff of eight full-time chefs as RIT’s executive chef and manager of the Student Alumni Café and Brick City Catering. “They already do a great job here at the SAU,” says Kingston, “and I have been designing new recipes to add to the menu to attract the diverse population of students, faculty and staff at RIT. One thing we will continue to do is utilize outside vendors like Mrs. Yang’s sushi and Indian cuisine from Pakistan House. It’s important to make everyone feel like they are eating right at home.”

Kingston is also back at home, and the former Honeoye Falls resident is happy to be back in the Rochester area with his wife, Deena, and their two dogs. A graduate of the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson and Wales University, Kingston’s first post landed him a job as a private chef on an island golf course resort in Cape Cod. Looking for more than seasonal work, Kingston accepted an offer at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Mich.—first serving as an intern at Hyatt Key West—where he met his wife.

In 2005, Kingston left Michigan to run Hyatt’s Specialty Seafood Restaurant in Chesapeake Bay before coming to RIT. “Together Deena and I have a very good understanding about the industry. People watch the Food Network with Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay and think it’s oh-so-easy to prepare food and experiment with new recipes. But they don’t realize what it takes to get there—working 12-hour days and working every weekend, every holiday.” One special occasion that Kingston remembers catering was during Super Bowl XL in 2006. “The Hyatt sent me to be the Chef Liaison for Paul Allen’s private room. He’s the owner of the Seattle Seahawks and it ended up being a gala for 2,500 which started at midnight,” he recalls. Kingston envisions offering SAU and Brick City Catering patrons appetizing foods that appeal to a wide variety of taste buds. “Being a chef takes commitment, and you have to have passion for what you do,” Kingston says.