His course changed one night while he was on a dinner date with his wife at Ciao in Coupeville. Owner Mark Laska immediately adopted the couple and soon DiMarsico was moonlighting off base in the kitchen of Ciao, learning ancient cooking techniques in their wood-fired oven.

Two years ago, Andrew DiMarsico was a yeoman in the base commander’s office at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

“I grew up in New York and often complained about not having a good spot for pizza in Washington,” said DiMarsico. “Although Ciao wasn’t the big greasy New-York-style slice of pizza I was looking for, it was by far the best I had anywhere since leaving home. I knew the minute I bit into the pie that the owner, Mark Laska, was using San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce and that’s something that an Italian like me can really appreciate.”For DiMarsico, the combination of these ultra-traditional cooking techniques and his Italian heritage stoked the fires of his culinary passions, inspiring him to request reassignment as a culinary specialist.

After completing his training and becoming a certified Chef de Cuisine, DiMarsico was invited onto the Navy Culinary Team representing the Navy; he joined more than 300 chefs who converged in Fort Lee, Va., to compete in the 39th Armed Forces Culinary Competition.

There, DiMarsico won Best in Show and the gold medal for Contemporary Hot Food.

“I like to consider myself a well-rounded chef,” DiMarsico said. “I grew up in a large Italian family, so naturally Italian is my heart, but recently I have become captivated with French cooking. I really enjoy small portions that pack a rich flavorful punch with each bite.”

While some practice for weeks and months for this prestigious competition, DiMarsico left his station on the USS Howard in the Pacific and only had 48 hours to prepare. For this prestigious competition, participants had one hour to create four plates for the judges.

DiMarsico created a culinary masterpiece of chicken roulade with forced meat wrapped in prosciutto with seasonal spring vegetables, polenta, and a crimini mushroom Madeira cream reduction pan sauce.

He scored 96 out of 100 possible points, which was the highest score given.

The master chef judging the dishes commented, “If God himself ordered chicken, this is precisely how it would be prepared,” according to a news release.

DiMarsico credits the mentoring he has received during his culinary training and remarked: “If it weren’t for the support of my family, the encouragement from my former command and the inspiration and dedication from the civilian community there, I couldn’t have achieved this great honor, and I share this gold medal with everyone at NAS Whidbey and my ‘family’ of chefs in Coupeville.”

DiMarsico was based at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station 2006-2012, and is currently on deployment.

Both his grandfathers served in the U.S. Army.

He is currently an American Culinary Federation Certified Sous Chef, and plans on going straight to Executive Chef once he returns from deployment. His goal is to work for one of the admirals.