Cameron Grant

The Climb

University of Puget Sound and Johnson & Wales University form the formal base of Cameron Grant’s training, followed by work in the food service industry from 1998. The pattern from the start is one of repetition and range: enough schooling to ground the technique, then long hours in kitchens that demanded stamina, focus, and the ability to read a room quickly. Colorado and Treiso, Italy mark the next stretch of the line. Grant served as Executive Chef at Laudisio Ristorante in Colorado, Executive Chef at Profumo Divino in Treiso, Italy, stage at La Ciau del Tornavento in Treiso, Italy, Executive Chef at Hornet Restaurant in Colorado, and Head Chef at Intercontinental Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. Across those roles, the work moves between American and Italian settings, with each stop adding another layer of practical experience in restaurant and hotel kitchens. Since 2014, Osteria Langhe has been the fixed point in that arc. As chef/partner there, Grant has held a kitchen language tied to specificity, where regional reference and daily execution have to meet without drift.

Today

Piedmontese cuisine shapes the kitchen at Osteria Langhe in Chicago, where Cameron Grant works as Executive Chef/Owner. The food is built from direct regional reference rather than broad interpretation, with dishes that depend on exact combinations and clear structure. Vitello Tonnato appears as poached Piemontese beef with tuna citrus caper aioli, frisee, and crispy egg. The plate is built on contrast: richness against acidity, softness against crunch, and a clean line between each part. Lumache Slow Food brings snail confit with arneis, leeks, and grilled bread, a dish that leans into depth and restraint at once. The Roasted Pork Belly & Octopus Pizza, a Chef Series Specialty Pizza, combines roasted pork belly, braised octopus, San Marzano plum tomato sauce, and fontina cheese, joining land and sea in one compact format. Braised beef cheek with ribs, tongue, oxtail, salsa verde, puff pastry, and brodo sits at the heavier end of the menu, but it stays legible. The elements are dense, yet each one has a clear place in the composition. Taken together, these dishes show a kitchen built around texture, regional memory, and the give-and-take that happens when a table is asked to keep listening.

Signature

Cameron Grant’s signature dishes are Vitello Tonnato, Lumache Slow Food, and The Roasted Pork Belly & Octopus Pizza. They show the core of his style: regional reference, controlled contrast, and plates that unfold in clear stages.

In Their Words “My food has come from my history, but my desire to succeed will create my future.”

Recognition

Cameron Grant has received Baconfest award, best front-of-house (2013). What reads as recognition here is tied to the work itself: a Chicago chef-owner associated with Piedmontese cuisine and a menu that keeps returning to the same register of precision and memory. The career line also carries the family garden and the long Chicago run into the present room, where practice stays close to recall. The awards named for him are not part of these materials; the durable recognition is the menu itself, especially dishes such as Vitello Tonnato, Lumache Slow Food, and the braised beef preparation with ribs, tongue, oxtail, salsa verde, puff pastry, and brodo.