Nicholas Normile: Student Chef

“I was the only kid and I guess he was impressed with that,” says Nicholas Normile as he explains his fortuitous introduction into the professional culinary world. Seated across from me, Nick emanates collected confidence. His short blond hair reflects the sunbeam coming in through the window and his wide smile reflects the passion he feels as he reminisces about his earliest days at La Croix Restaurant in Philadelphia.

Born and raised in Lower Merion, Nick lived just twenty minutes outside of Philly with his parents and two younger sisters. Nick was only thirteen when he began cooking seriously. “[La Croix] offered cooking classes and I signed up for one by myself.” He was drawn to the class’ emphasis on cooking fresh foods. “We’d go to the farmers market to buy some ingredients and come back to class to learn how to cook the groceries the way the chefs would,” he explains. Impressed by Nick’s youthful enthusiasm toward culinary development, Chef Jason Cichonski invited him to apprentice at La Croix after school for the year. Over the next five years, Nick continued to work at La Croix; however, during the summer he sought to expand his culinary skillset. His summer days were split between shifts at La Croix and hours at several of Philadelphia’s other leading restaurants. He had the opportunity to learn from the chefs at Amada, Fork, and L’Osteria over the course of each summer. By the time Nick graduated high school, he had completed his extended apprenticeship with his “strict but motivating” mentor at La Croix. Since his first class at La Croix, Nick has been featured on The 10! Show and has taught various cooking classes to his peers.

Before his apprenticeships, Nick’s experience in the kitchen consisted of preparing food with his grandmother. “My mom isn’t a very good cook at all, and my dad just doesn’t care,” he says with a chuckle. But his grandmother, an immigrant from Italy, cooked gnocchi and homemade ravioli. “She’s the nicest lady I ever met and often I find my self asking, ‘W.W.G.D.?’ What would grandma do?” She would ask Nick to help in the kitchen and often they would make apple pie together. The joy in the kitchen with grandma began as early as he can remember. “There’s a picture of me at around five or six years old on a stepstool at the kitchen counter. We had picked blueberries earlier that day and she and I were making jam.”

Now, Nick spends his free time cooking for his friends. “Every Sunday I make dinner for my roommates and a few friends, which is great for impressing girls,” he claims. While his grandmother taught him how to turn a few ingredients like eggs, water, and flour into authentic homemade pasta, he doesn’t always stick to traditional Italian food. His weekly repertoire ranges from Asian to Latin; he doesn’t have a favorite type of food to cook because “I don’t like limiting myself to one culture. I guess I can say American because that includes everything.” However, due to his training at La Croix, whatever it is he’s cooking, it’s usually French inspired.

While Nick enjoys cooking for friends and family, after five years in some of the most prestigious kitchens in Philadelphia, he decided that he could never work in a restaurant as a chef again. Though he was always intrigued by the business of cooking, “the restaurant life isn’t for me”. As a sophomore in The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Nick studies marketing and finance in hopes that one day he will find a way to apply his passion for business to his first love: food.

–Marissa Seto

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