Aces of Trades: Ethan Romine finds purpose as Granville Inn's executive chef

GRANVILLE – He did his best to be his best — and it accelerated his career.

“At an early age, I never really had any occupations that stood out to me,” Ethan Romine said. “I always enjoyed cooking, but I never really thought of it as a profession. I remember at an early age I always enjoyed watching Emeril, Bobby Flay and Martha Stewart with my mother, but that really was all the interest I had for cooking at the time. In my mind it was always there but not necessarily a passion for me. I will be the first to tell you I had no interest in being a chef.”

Today, Romine is executive chef at the Granville Inn. “I create dishes, menus, and memories,” he said.

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Romine, 29, primarily grew up in Newark and graduated from Newark Catholic in 2013. He studied kinesiology at the Newark campus of Ohio State University and nursing at Central Ohio Technical College.

“I really wanted to be a nurse,” he said. “I’ve always had high respect for nurses, and learning a bedside manner was an extreme joy to me. Learning how to talk to someone who could possibly be having the worst day of their life was a skill that I’ve always valued. Little did I know that bedside manner is quite similar, if not the same, as hospitality, just in a different career.”

Romine's career path turned late in 2017.

“Unfortunately, nothing came of (nursing) after two years,” he said. “That’s when I made a decision that would change my life forever. I was all in for the kitchen life. I went to chef and asked him if I could be a line cook. My first day at the Granville Inn was on Thanksgiving Day 2017. When I first started, I was just a food runner. A food runner is usually the person who stands next to the chef while the meals are being finalized and garnished. They then deliver the food to the server.

“During my first year as a food runner,” he said, “the line cooks and chefs noticed I was useful. They asked me if I wanted to work full time and become a line cook. From line cook, I quickly worked my way through the four stations — salad, appetizers, grill and then the hardest station, saute. I remember watching my sous chef on the saute station, and I remember just being absolutely blown away by how quickly and efficient he was. With flames roaring in his face, he never wavered, not once. In my head I said to myself, ‘One day that’s going to be me.’ After that, I became the lead line cook, and after roughly a year, I went on to become sous chef, and roughly a year after that, I became executive sous chef. After a year and a half of being executive sous chef, I was offered the position of executive chef.”

Mason Knight is restaurant manager at the Granville Inn.

“Chef Ethan is a man of humble leadership and unrivaled dedication,” Knight said. “His insight into the Inn’s history and his contemporary culinary zeal integrate perfectly to blend many traditional flavors and Granville Inn classics with innovative recipes and new tastes, making for a well-balanced menu of timeless classics and modern masterpieces. We are immeasurably grateful to call him our executive chef.”

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“My job is completely from the heart,” Romine said. “Every day I show up and keep pushing myself to the very limits because I know as I do, I evolve into a more well-rounded chef and individual. I do it because nothing means more to me than making someone’s special evening, or special day, an absolute treasured memory that they can talk about for years to come. The opportunities, people and memories this profession have offered me are worth more than anything, and I would never trade that in. I truly love what I do.”

“I rose through the ranks quickly,” he said. “And I learned what I think is a lifetime of information in just a short amount of time. I still have a running joke that I was the best food runner the Granville Inn had ever seen. But I always want to learn more and show respect for the chefs and line cooks who have come before me.”

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark Aces of Trades: Granville Inn chef Ethan Romine finds purpose