About The Chef
Wesley "Wes" A. Rosati, Executive Chef at Lansdowne Resort
Growing up in a small, rural town in local Virginia, where living, playing and eating food right from his family’s garden started Wes Rosati’s interest in food and rich flavors. He lives his food.
“I’m one of three boys in the family,” Rosati says, “my parents were hippies, so I learned about ‘organic’ from a young age. And, each one of us cooks, either professionally or recreationally.”
He spent a lot of time in the garden learning what fresh produce looks and smells like and, thanks to his family’s culinary talents, what fresh food tastes like.
That childhood experience is central to Rosati’s style and success as a chef, and ultimately his climb up Lansdowne Resort’s culinary ladder. “One of the biggest advantages of the culinary experience at Lansdowne is the creative freedom we strive to cultivate. When that freedom is combined with our talented culinary team, a great, and tasty, situation is created for everyone. Our guests and chefs, alike,” Rosati says. Rosati seeks out the best possible products he can find nearby and tries to get involved with local growers and purveyors around Northern Virginia, building relationships that provide a unique insight to the ingredients that enhance his seasonal menus.
“Simple is best. My favorite food is pork,” says Rosati, “but take a BLT for instance. It’s perfect with just a few proper ingredients. There’s no need to add a bunch of nonsense if you’ve got great bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and bread to start with.” Rosati continues, “I want guests to taste the freshness of the halibut, the lamb or the produce that is in season. I only want to enhance the original flavor of the products we cook with.”
Chef Rosati’s menus change by the season, four to six times a year, depending not on a specific calendar date, but around the fluctuating cycle of Northern Virginia’s seasons. What guests find in the late summer will be far different from what they can select in the cold of winter.
Chef Rosati was always excited about cooking, starting his culinary career at age 15. After college, he continued to work in restaurants and began his culinary apprenticeship through the American Culinary Federation. With a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, this “Tar Heel” spent time traveling to culinary hot spots – Sonoma Wine Country, the Russian River Valley, Montreal, Paris, Southern France, Rome, Central and Southern Italy. The culmination of his travels, education and home-cooking experience grounded his cooking style in the best available products and seasonal ingredients enhanced by classical techniques.
Chef Rosati’s first position at Lansdowne was as Sous Chef for The Golf Club at Lansdowne, the resort’s private golf club, in 2005. He was soon promoted to Resort Banquet Chef in 2006. Prior to joining the resort, Rosati honed his skills at several restaurants in Virginia, North Carolina and California training employees, developing menus and recipes and staging special events. Rosati has been asked twice to cook at the infamous James Beard House in New York; once as part of the Benchmark Hospitality team in 2007 and again as Lansdowne Resort hosted the event.
Now the executive chef of Lansdowne Resort, he oversees every dining outlet and each banquet. This includes a more involved role in On The Potomac, the premiere fine dining restaurant at Lansdowne Resort that showcases his skills in a casual, yet elegant setting. Rosati describes On The Potomac when saying, "We strive to feature local and artisan-made products, either crafted by our talented culinary team or purchased from people dedicated to what they produce. The best the mid-Atlantic has to offer; skillfully and thoughtfully prepared, and presented in a casual, yet elegant setting."
