Note: See the attached video for Cliff's recipe and preparation of bacon-wrapped cod with pan chowder.

Cliff Saladin says he wanted to be a chef for as long as he can remember. The son of parents from the West Indies, he and two younger siblings grew up and attended school in New Rochelle, New York and Stamford, Connecticut. His mother loved to bake and cook and by the time he was eight years old, she would let him help in the kitchen by beating eggs and peeling potatoes. He has used her recipe for Corn au Gratin as a side dish at several places where he's worked.

After graduating from Westhill High School in Stamford, Saladin worked for a year in Darien, Connecticut at Newport Bar & Grill (no longer in business). It was a good learning experience he says because the restaurant prepared all of its food from scratch - even the barbecue sauce was homemade.

Saladin was only 19 when he began what would be a five-and-a-half-year career at Bennigan's Grill & Tavern in Stamford. He started as Pantry Cook and moved up to Fry Cook, Grill Cook, Lead Cook and ultimately to Express Cook.

Bennigan's took great pride in its standing offer to customers: any meal not served within 15 minutes after being ordered would be free. Once a waiter had written all the requests on his pad, he activated a clock on the table and it began ticking.

To preserve the profitability of the eatery, the Express Chef played an extremely important role. He had dual duties - he cooked but he was also responsible for preparation of all dishes and their delivery to tables on time.

During his tenure as Express Chef, Saladin set the restaurant record for going the most days without having to serve a free meal - two-and-one-half months. A remarkable feat considering that mishaps by kitchen personnel or even a dropped dish by a waiter could contribute to missing a deadline. Fellow employees called Saladin "the wheel man."

At the age of 25, he went to work for the 506-room Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa in downtown Stamford and advanced from Line Cook to Executive Steward, a position that included keeping kitchen equipment in proper working order.

After Saladin was promoted to Restaurant Chef, Marriott agreed to pay his tuition for attending the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. He would work at the Stamford Marriott in the morning, catch an express train to Manhattan at the train station three blocks away, and return after school to work the evening shift.

Following graduation, his responsibilities increased and he prepared food for the restaurant, bar and room service. Twice, he was recognized as Associate of the Year (Marriott's equivalent to Employee of the Year). His employer also sent him to attend a short "Passion Plate" course at Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, devoted to preparing dishes that were both healthy and visually appealing.

Saladin says Chef Jed Gidaly at the Stamford Marriott helped him advance his career by introducing him to contemporary American cuisine and explaining how flavors work together.

Eight years after joining the Stamford Marriott, he moved to the Marriott Park Ridge in Park Ridge, New Jersey to rejoin Chef Arlin Foster, his mentor at the Stamford Marriott. Subsequently he worked at the Hilton Rye Town and the Riverside Yacht Club in Riverside, Connecticut as sous chef to Kevin Dougherty, a distinguished chef educated and trained in Scotland.

Saladin joined Basil's Restaurant at the Sheraton Tarrytown in 2008 as executive chef and rewrote the menu for its rebirth as Rioja, a Mediterranean restaurant, in January, 2009.

He introduced food representing many cultures and influences to the new menu including Spanish, French, Italian, Asian and contemporary American. The menu includes seafood, steak, Waldorf Salad, flat bread pies (similar to pizza), and Rioja Bolognese - a thick slow-cooked combination of ground veal and beef served in tomato sauce. It also offers a wide choice of tappas including crab cake, sausage, calamari and shrimp; the Kobe sliders are topped with cheddar cheese.

The Rioja menu is varied, inventive and crosses gastronomical borders. Applying modern interpretation to traditional recipes is no problem for this chef. "Every dish should have its own personalty," said Saladin. "The true test for the chef is the tasting."

Recipe for Rioja crab cakes

• 1 lb.  Jumbo lump crab meat
• ½ cup. Mayonnaise
• ¼ cup. Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbs. Old Bay seasoning
• 1 cup. Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 Tbs. Lemon juice     

Add mayo, mustard, lemon juice, and old bay in a mixing bowl. Whisk together until smooth. Add a half cup of bread crumbs. Drain the crabmeat and add it to mixture. Mix together being careful not to overwork the crabmeat. Mold into desired size and lightly sprinkle bread crumbs on both sides of the crab cake. When ready, add oil to a sauté pan and wait until hot. Lower the flame and sear both sides of the crab cakes. Finish in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for 10 minutes.