community
december1
2016
7
Mariolino’s Restaurant Features New Chef
Jim Cress brings a lifetime of
experience and adds weekend
specials to local menu.
This past spring Mario Leonetti,
the long time owner of Mariolino’s
Restaurant, suffered a heart attack and
was told by his doctors that he
needs to slow things down a bit,
especially at work.
Of course, anyone who
knows Mario knows how that
would go. Leonetti continues
to open the restaurant every
morning (except Mondays) and
cook breakfast for his loyal
customers... and in addition
decided to run for Mayor of
Vernonia this fall, which he won.
Leonetti did contact
his partner Letha’s brother Jim
Cress, a long time chef, and
asked him to come to Vernonia
to help out in the restaurant.
Cress originally started helping
out on the weekends, but has now joined
the staff at Mariolino’s full time and is
turning out some weekend specials that
have been the talk of the town and have
customers coming back again and again,
and bringing along their friends.
Cress is originally from
southern California where his fi rst job
was cooking in restaurants when he was
in his teens. “It’s the only job I’ve ever
had,” he says.
Cress says he saw a pastry
chef at a place he worked and thought
he might like to try it. “I had moved to
another restaurant and they had decided
to start doing pastries in-house, and
rather than hire someone expensive, they
hired a consultant to teach someone on
their staff, and I said ‘I would really like
to be that guy and learn that,’” explains
Cress.
Cress learned the fi ne art of
being a pastry chef at that fi ne dining
restaurant and worked with several chefs
during some part-time jobs over several
years before landing a dream job at the
Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills in
the late 80s.
Cress worked in several fi ne
dining establishments over the years as
pastry chef and head chef, before joining
a wholesale food company where he
worked producing pastries.
He moved to Oregon when he
joined Compass Group, a food service
company where he worked for 10
years, and also worked part-time
at Portland’s famous Elephant
Deli where he continued to
dabble in pastries. Most recently
he worked for WaferTech, a
computer manufacturing company
in Camas, Washington, where he
was the chef in their employee
café. “I took the big leap and
left my comfortable corporate
job at the computer company
to come to Vernonia and help
Mario,” says Cress. “Mario
was looking to take it to another level
and my being here in the afternoons
and evenings has helped him relax
some.”
Cress’s specials and his
presentations have drawn rave reviews
from customers. “The increase in
business has been obvious,” said
Cress. He mentioned one loyal
customer, Jack, that regularly brings
a group of six or eight friends for
weekend dinners.
Cress says he is working to
change the atmosphere and make
dining at Mariolino’s a bit more like a
fi ne dining experience, with full table
service. He says he features mostly meat
specials like prime rib, rib eye steak,
fried chicken, or pork chops, because
that was something that was missing as
an option for Vernonia restaurant goers.
Cress says he tries to keep the meals
affordable, and will serve a 14 oz. rib eye
steak, baked potato, salad or a vegetable,
and garlic bread for around $23.
Cress hopes to add more of
those types of meals to the regular menu.
He says he has enjoyed fi guring out the
challenges that come from cooking in a
small town restaurant. He says he really
likes working with, and creating fresh
foods. “I don’t use mixes for my gravy,
I make my own stock and it’s the real
deal, so that’s the kinds of sauces you get
here, because that’s how I know how to
do it. That’s how I was taught and that’s
how good food is put out - not skipping
a step,” says Cress.
Cress says his attention to detail
shows when he sees people come back
and order the same item again and again.
“We pay attention to the quality,” says
Cress. “I like using fresh vegetables.
Our meats for our sandwiches are not
processed deli meats - we roast a turkey
and slice it. The beef for our french dip
is slow cooked and the au jus sauce is
made from real beef stock that I make.
There is a lot of love that goes into these
meals from A to Z and that has led to our
success. Some people really recognize
the quality.”
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