chef_box.jpgChef Sal Marino, CEC, AACH, is a World War II veteran and an award-winning chef.  He has devoted his life to helping others achieve their goals with little thought of himself. 

 

His dream was to produce a line of products for families as well as the foodservice industry and to see them onto supermarket shelves and distribution warehouses across the United States.  In 1999, at age 75, he started pursuing that dream.

 

Sal Marino was born in Birmingham, Alabama the oldest son to Italian immigrants.  He began working in his father’s grocery store at the age of seven.  School took a back seat to helping his family make ends meet and Sal never finished high school due to the rigors of day to day life brought on by the Great Depression. While working for his father breaking down sides of beef, stocking the store and delivering papers in his spare time, Sal dreamed of one day having a product with his name on grocery store shelves.

 

Those dreams were first put on hold, at age 17, when the United States entered into World War II. 

 

When Sal returned home from the war he decided to do what he loved the most, and opened a restaurant.  Over the next 30 years, Sal owned several restaurants operating in Birmingham, AL. 

Eventually, Sal found time to attend a culinary school and become a Certified Executive Chef and attended the Culinary Institute of America on the campus of Yale University.

 

chef_box5.jpgAfter achieving his certification, Sal returned became very involved with the Birmingham Chapter of the American Culinary Federation putting on charity events for organizations like Cerebral Palsy, Magic City Harvest and the Chef & Child Foundation.

 

For his continued efforts and passion for his profession, Sal was given one of the highest honors awarded by the American Culinary Federation when he was inducted into the Academy of Chefs in 1998.

 

In 1998, at Age 75, Chef Sal started on fullfilling his life long dream, and began producing a line of fully cooked and seasoned southern style frozen vegetables.

 

Chef Sal’s Southern Style Vegetables now offers twelve fantastic items including: Collard Greens, Sweet Potatoes, Black Eyed Peas, Baby Lima Beans, Okra & Tomato, Green Beans, Yellow Corn, Macaroni & Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, Turnip Greens, Pinto Beans and Red Beans all of which are frozen and in a boilable or microwavable pouch.  

 

The institutional line, which is packaged in five-pound bags (four per case) includes 12 delicious items that are sold by distributors across the Southeast and Southwest.