About Our Chef
Andrew Guarini is our head chef at Streetlight Kitchen & Bar. He curates our menu with from scratch recipes and fresh ingredients. His ideas and talents provide Streetlight with our signature cuisines. Learn more about him and his cooking ideologies from our questions below.
How long have you been cooking?
“Professionally I graduated culinary school in 1997 but I have been cooking in a commercial kitchen since I was in the sixth grade. A very close friend of my father’s owned a Italian Restaurant & Pizza Shop back in the late 80’s on the Jersey shore, and ever since I have been hooked. I tell him all the time it’s his fault.”
Where did you go to culinary school?
“I attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and graduated in November 1997.”
What is your favorite food?
“I don’t have a favorite style of food. I enjoy all different styles of food, but I lean towards Italian food mostly. I do like to try different kinds and cuisines.”
What is your favorite thing to cook?
“I enjoy cooking Italian food mostly. Sunday sauce with meatballs and sausage, lasagna, fresh made pizza & stromboli, gnocchi, pasta, and ravioli. I also enjoy making all different kind of soups.”
What inspires your cooking?
“When I was young I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house in Glenside PA or at their mountain house in Henryville PA and my grandmother made everything from scratch. Pasta, ravioli, lasagna, meatballs, braciola, canned vegetables, tomato sauce, cakes, desserts, etc. My grandfather had the best vegetable garden ever. It was like basically their whole backyard. Grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers hot & sweet, beans, peas, greens, lettuces, peaches, pears, apples, plums, figs black and green, you name it. So I basically follow their lead to make as much as I can from scratch because That is all I knew for most of my life.”
Do you have a cooking philosophy?
“Simple food, seasoned good, cooked good, and tastes good. Don’t overthink it.”
Favorite cooking memories?
“When I was a kid it was a family thing to have Sunday dinner, mostly at my grandparent’s house in Glenside PA.”
Do you have anything you want to add about yourself?
“I am an avid sports fan (Eagles, Phillies, Flyers). I like to hunt & fish, and go camping. I am my biggest cheerleader for my kids during their sporting events. I also enjoy boating and racing. I am married (Georgianne) for 15 years now and have two children, a daughter (Alexandra) and a son (Andrew). I like to go to LBI on the Jersey Shore and the Poconos, specifically Lords Valley PA where my hunting cabin is.”