A little bit about Rick Barbata

Being a chef from Los Angeles, Rick Barbata’s culinary career began at Spago on Sunset Boulevard working with the then unknown, Wolfgang Puck. It was there when Wolfgang Puck started incorporating the whole California cuisine concept to the world. Salmon and goat cheese on a pizza, what? It was absolutely unheard of at the time. That man alone helped change the world and the world’s interpretation of what good cooking is all about and he changed Rick Barbata’s life too. Rick learned a tremendous amount of food knowledge from him.

Soon after, Rick Barbata would find himself cooking with some of the biggest names in restaurants and the culinary scene on the west coast, and the whole country for that matter. Some of the other chefs Rick has been involved with and gained knowledge from in his career are Michael Roberts, Alain Ducasse, Jean Francois Meteigner, Pat Soma, Michel Richard and others. Fortunately, Rick has been able to parlay his experience of learning and cooking with the best to getting gigs all over the world. The list of famous people that Rick Barbata has fed is long and includes such well-known people as Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry, David Geffen, Senator Olympia Snowe and many others.

In more recent years, Rick Barbata had a popular restaurant in Portland, Maine called RICK’S on Munjoy Hill which was voted “Best New Restaurant 2001” and where he was voted “Best New Chef 2001”!

Please scroll through the pages for videos, menus, photos, and press coverage about Rick Barbata. Thanks!

Check out the “About Me” for more details on Rick Barbata’s culinary history.

Rick’s redefining the familiar in impossible-to-resist style

We recently enjoyed a very fine dinner at Rick’s, the new restaurant in Portland’s East End.

This renovated storefront is now a pretty cafe, freshly painted and cleverly partitioned to maximize what had been little more than a large square room. The track lighting is dim and glowing, and the antique desk used for reception, the wooden sideboard used to store table settings and condiments, and the old pine swinging doors to the kitchen add warmth and charm to the atmosphere.

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Chef@Home brings fine dining to you - Metro Magazine

By Eliza Price for Metro Magazine

“Wonderful aromas of great cooking linger to tempt you, your refrigerator is full of gourmet meals and your kitchen is left spotless. Easy.”

Yeah, sure. Whatever.

As unlikely as it may seem, it’s the mantra of what Chef Rick Barbata’s personal, “Chef@Home” service. His goal, he said, is to be the person to make people’s lives easier by bringing healthy food and the family connection back around the table.

It may seem extravagant to entertain the idea of having your very own personal chef, but the affordability of the appetizers and entrees on your self-made menu may actually save you money.

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Rick’s Maine Crab Cakes with Watercress and Strawberry Salad

(as seen in Port City Magazine)

Crab Cakes:

1 pound Maine crabmeat
1 cup créme fraiche or reduced cream
4 slices lightly toasted French bread
1 egg, beaten
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons snipped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt

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