Executive Chef Dave DelRio of Lee Roy Selmon’s

Our Chef’s Corner contributor and self-proclaimed “Cowboy Chef”, Dave DelRio, fits right in as the Executive Chef of Lee Roy Selmon’s. The popular All American Grill is part of OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc., which also operates Outback Steakhouse. Since Chef DelRio considers himself more research and development (R&D) focused, he stays on top of the latest trends and teaches and trains while he develops his menus.

Read Chef DelRio’s thoughts about using rice in restaurants. Then try his recipe for Brown and Wild Rice Infusion with Vegetables – a signature Lee Roy Selmon’s side dish that is tasty enough to stand on its own.

Chef Dave DelRio's Professional Background
	OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. – Executive chef; 16 years with company Executive Chef of large Country Clubs in Florida Owned 8 of his own restaurants Apprenticeship at an established Spanish restaurant in Tampa, FL

	What role does rice play at Lee Roy Selmon’s All American Grill?
	Rice is an important ingredient for me, and it plays an integral part in some of our signature dishes, like our gumbo, a favorite. We recently developed a new rice offering because I felt that we needed more rice on the menu. Our Brown and Wild Rice Infusion with Vegetables is becoming one of our most popular partners to our entrées, including steak.
	When planning your menu, how do you use rice to showcase its versatility?
	Rice doesn’t have to be a side – chefs should consider rice an ingredient. I build dishes around rice with all types of proteins. Rice helps create the flavorful, healthy alternatives customers are looking for.
	What benefits does rice offer as a side item to your beef dishes?
	Rice has a great look. And I don’t feel consumers expect potatoes with steak anymore – they’re demanding more options because their eating horizons have been expanded by exposure to new flavors and new ideas. Rice is versatile enough to provide these options.
	Describe your cooking style and philosophy on food.
	My cooking style is a comfortable mix of Cajun, Creole and Soul Food. Comfort food is appealing, aesthetically and emotionally. You talk over it; you laugh over it.
	What current food trends are most affecting what you do?
	The growing diversity of our customer base is demanding new flavors, new textures and dining experiences. My restaurants are responding by putting new flavors that are familiar to all ethnicities in one menu. Rice can help us with this.
	What’s the one ingredient your kitchen will never be without and why?
	I will never be without fresh herbs in my restaurants. Once chefs learn how to use them, they bring food alive with complex combinations and levels of flavor.
	What is the most memorable dish you have ever eaten?
	A year or so ago, we had a chefs’ conference in Tuscany, and we had an all-day meal to taste the flavors of the region. We sat on a veranda and watched incredibly talented Italian chefs prepare our meal, which included an amazing Tuscan Porterhouse steak and a Ragu of Rabbit.
	Advice for aspiring chefs?
	Do what you do from the heart and love what you do. I knew what I expected out of this life – not to be rich and famous, but to be satisfied. I’m not a TV chef, but my satisfaction comes from the fact that thousands of people enjoy what I make daily.