Meet Chef Andy Teixeira
October 9, 2024Restaurant: Newport Vineyards, Newport, RI
2024 Hog Farmer Appreciation Dinner Dish: Strawberry black pepper Iberian Duroc pork belly with Boston baked beans, summer pickles, and Rhode Island johnnycakes
Chef Andy Texeira’s first kitchen memory is, at five years old, standing on a milk crate tying knot rolls in his dad’s bakery. From that moment on, he lived in his family’s kitchens until the age of 17 when he ventured out.
In 2016, Chef Andy joined Newport Vineyards in Rhode Island to launch the culinary program as Executive Chef. Since joining the vineyard, Chef Andy has created from scratch, both literally and figuratively, the farm-to-table culinary program for two restaurants, including an in-house bakery, in-house butchery program, a catering program that supports hundreds of private events a year, and culinary collaborations with the onsite brewery, Taproot Brewing Co.
His kitchen philosophy involves “old world” style cooking, using techniques such as brining, roasting, smoking, and curing meats. All sauces and pickling are done in-house and the bakery program daily prepares all breads, desserts and pastries. In addition, the catering program hosts hundreds of guests each week with menus made to order from scratch.
Chef Andy works directly with dozens of local and regional farms, not only to supply the restaurants, but also to educate his team with field trips to cultivate their passion for sourcing local ingredients. In 2020, Newport Vineyards established a large garden to supply the kitchen with a wide variety of fresh vegetables.
Trained under great chefs such as Jasper White, Chef Andy attributes much of his success to influential mentors and he strives to similarly inspire his teams.
And why Niman Ranch? “We’re a great farm with a two-acre garden. We do all whole animal butchery. I was breaking down animals from small farms in our area, but it wasn’t enough,” he said. He turned to Niman Ranch because the quality and consistency is equal to the products he gets from the small farmers close by.
He described the “pork and beans” dish with corn cakes he prepared for the dinner. “We’re Rhode Island and Boston so we’re bringing Rhode Island and Boston. Everybody keeps telling me I’m the crazy person who shipped corn to Iowa,” he laughed.
