Owner
Growing up in Newton, Dennis’s love of cooking and fine food blossomed at a young age in a household surrounded by passionate cooks and gardeners. At age four, he began watching Julia Child cook on television and attempting his first culinary creations. He went on to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst for food service management while amassing experience working under James Beard Award semifinalist Unmi Abkin (Coco & the Cellar Bar).
Dennis returned to Boston and assisted James Beard Award winner Joanne Chang (Flour Bakery, Myers and Chang) during her tenure at Jamie Mammano’s Mistral, the flagship restaurant of the Columbus Restaurant Group. Dennis further honed his skills at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, after which he applied his formal training as a private chef in Boston and Martha’s Vineyard for nearly a decade. In 2009, he co-founded Forklift Catering with friend Jamie Rogers with a shared vision of bringing outstanding food and service to the Boston catering scene.
An avid gardener, Dennis also tends to the Forklift Garden, which supports Forklift’s uber-local approach and augments the rich array of delectable local produce that our farm partners supply. Dennis lives in Somerville, close to the garden, with his wife and two young sons, Forklift’s chefs-in-training.