Princeton University Dining Services brought Chef Patrick Concannon from Francesca’s of Chicago to Forbes College Monday as part of the “Great Chefs of Chicago” series.

Chef Concannon has been Corporate Chef for the Francesca’s restaurant family in Chicago since 2001. In the past four years he has helped Francesca’s open ten new restaurants, providing instruction and training for the staff of each.

From an early age Concannon was drawn to cooking, working in his mother’s catering business in Chicago. At 18, while working in Gordon’s of Chicago, Concannon decided he wanted to pursue cooking as a career. Over the next 8 years Concannon traveled from Hawaii to France, working in a variety of food genres honing his skills. For a brief time he found himself in San Francisco working with Charlie Trotter, who would later bring him back to Chicago to cook in the infamous Charlie Trotter’s restaurant. Chef Concannon then went back to become the executive chef at his mother’s restaurant, Don Juan’s, before joining Francesca’s.

Concannon is very happy at Francesca’s because Italian food has always been his favorite to prepare. Over the years he has experimented in many different cuisines, but has found that trendy restaurants wane in popularity all too quickly. He prefers building restaurants that are going to be around twenty years down the line. He believes Francesca’s has this lasting power because people are familiar with Italian food and will continue to enjoy it many years from now.

Chef Concannon creates authentic Italian dishes with fresh ingredients and simple combinations. Part of his secret is always using imported meats and cheeses straight from Italy to achieve the best flavor possible. American attempts at imitating Italian prosciutto and hams just don’t stack up compared to the real thing. For his other ingredients he trusts local producers as long as everything is as fresh as possible.

To start off the meal Chef Concannon created an impressive antipasto display with a wonderful selection of marinated vegetables, salty Italian meats, and fresh Italian cheeses. In addition he sprinkled gorgonzola cheese over a tray of warm lentils and spinach. The first of many dishes from Francesca’s was the “Insalata alla Francesca,” a combination of romaine, endive, radicchio, vegetables, and bleu cheese. Next Chef Concannon provided two wonderful soups and a bounty of fresh bread. The creamy tomato basil was a fine compliment and accent to the hearty Tuscan white bean with Italian sausage.

For the entrees Chef Concannon brought some of the most popular dishes from Francesca’s- giant Spinach Ravioli draped in a smooth four cheese sauce, delicious Pollo Lemon in a caper white wine sauce and Pacific salmon seared in a white wine sauce with vegetables. They proved to be quite popular with the students of Forbes College as well. As a satisfied Dana Berkowitz put it “Normally I don’t eat meat, but I love the salmon.” A wealth of Pagliacci sautéed vegetables and Romano roasted potatoes accompanied the main courses nicely.

For desert there was a warm apple tart, a smooth and sweet Tiramisu, and assorted Italian cookies and biscotti.

The dinner was an overwhelming success, with students devouring the food at a furious pace. Chef Concannon also enjoyed his visit immensely and when asked what he thought of Princeton University he said, “I want to go back to school!”