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About Chef Roger Greene

Getting a late start couldn't keep this former English teacher from pursuing his dream of being a chef.

After earning teaching credentials at the University of Wisconsin in 1972, Roger Greene started his professional career in Chicago, working in many public high schools throughout the city. Cooking had always been a hobby and a passion for Roger. He learned his initial skills at home, influenced by his mother and his older sister, both great cooks. His friends at UW soon learned not to miss a dinner invitation at his apartment.

Later, while teaching, Roger took courses in stocks and sauces at the late, great Dumas Père School in Glenview, Illinois. But this was not enough, and he finally was compelled to follow his burgeoning interest. In 1984, at age 36, Roger enrolled in a professional cooking course at the newly created Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago to embark on a culinary career change.

Roger's first restaurant employer at the old Dairy Restaurant in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood took one look at his resume and asked him if he understood that he'd "get dirty." Undismayed, Roger got his start, honing his skills by working all positions at the restaurant.

Roger gained fine dining experience through a stint in the pantry department at Michael Foley's Printers' Row Restaurant. Nearly two years in the kitchen at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare followed - where, among other things, Roger learned Cajun cooking while running Ventanas, the hotel's rotating restaurant.

Moving to Providence, Rhode Island, Roger attended the prestigious culinary school Johnson & Wales University, earning an Associate in Occupational Science Degree in Culinary Arts and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Food Service Management, both with high honors.

At Johnson & Wales, instructors invited him to be a teaching assistant, helping them in molding new cooks and chefs. Roger held positions in a classic Italian restaurant (much like the one depicted in HBO's "The Sopranos") and at Hemenway's, a large, well-known seafood restaurant in Providence.

He also obtained more hotel experience at the Sheraton in Newport, Rhode Island, and at the Hyatt in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While on the East Coast, Roger absorbed the flavors of New England, the wonderful seafood, and the Italian and Portuguese influences that permeate the cuisine there.

After Roger's graduation from Johnson & Wales in 1991, he returned to Chicago and served as a chef for Aramark's Corporate Dining Services for the next 12 years in the suburbs and the downtown area.

A desire to be his own boss led Roger to create Dinner is Solved! in the spring of 2003. Since then, he has been providing healthful, delicious dinners for busy professionals throughout the Chicago area.

Chef Greene lives in the Ravenswood neighborhood on Chicago's North Side with his wife, Vicky; both are avid renovators, cyclists, cat lovers and gardeners.

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