In our continuing expo of the new generation of charmers wielding cocktail shakers at Newport’s hottest restaurants, we turn to our beloved Clarke Cooke House, whose bench on this front is deep.
You have to wonder how General Manager Stephan Boneu does it, assembling such an impressive, competent and unreasonably attractive group of young people. Yet as young as they are, the boys behind the bar at Cooke are nonetheless trained to cater to, as noted on the website, “royalty and yachting stars, captains of industry and charming scalawags” alike.
Among an impressive roster, Seth Davis, 23 and Mitch Ventura, 24, are two of the rising stars who earned their stripes at this emblematic Newport food and beverage destination. Davis grew up in Middletown, Ventura in Newport, both attending their town’s public schools and finding their way to the restaurant business after odd jobs as youngsters, Davis working at Second Beach, Ventura doing a stint as score keeper for the Sunset League at Cardine’s Field and working for a time with his father, who owns a carpentry company. Both have dreams and plans that include travel. They’re adorable, polite, and both pour a damn good cocktail.
Once you’ve risen up in the ranks at Cooke, you’re as good as gold anywhere in the world, and Davis and Ventura have elevated their hospitality skills to a degree that will earn them a solid living in perpetuity. The two share something else that’s helped drive them, besides a steady income; a fascination and passion for the people with whom they work.
Davis, a jiu jitsu practitioner and fan of mixed martial arts with a passion for surfing and all water sports, said his attraction to downtown Newport started at a young age when he’d ride his bike downtown and take in the energy of the restaurants and the passersby. He got his start in the business as a teenager, working at The Deck.
“It was awesome. There’s a big night scene there and I loved the music, loved being up late, loved the scene and the people I worked with. I have a story for almost every day,” he mused.
His current position on the front lines of the Cooke House, which began at age 19, is one for which he’s grateful, and he says being a hard worker and a squeaky wheel, consistently asking to do more and be promoted, helped him climb the ladder.
“I’m out there day and night, making a real living,” he said. “I’ve done all the jobs they have to offer. I started out as a busser, then food runner, bar back, server, to now bartending. I also worked upstairs a little, with fine dining. The place is awesome on so many levels. I don’t know if it will be my career forever, but I feel like I have such a good relationship with them, and they are so welcoming, that even if I did pursue a different path, I can always come back.”
On the recommendation of friends who worked there in summer, Ventura started his Cooke House ascent similarly to Davis, first as a busser, then bar back and food runner, at age 17.
“My friends put in a good word with Stefan and the interview went well, so they hired me, but I had no idea at all what I was doing; not a clue,” he said.
After a year-long stint at a restaurant in Texas starting in 2019, he came home to Newport, joining his Dad in the carpentry business.
“My Dad’s a genius. He can look at and visualize exactly how he wants to do something. But I figured out that working with family wasn’t for me.”
Soon after leaving the company, though, he said he began to watch his bank account “go the wrong way,” and texted longtime Cooke House manager Reggie, who rehired him on the spot and soon after he started learning the bartending ropes with one of the Cooke House veterans in 2022.
Ventura expedites for the third floor Sky Bar kitchen on weekends and is amazed by the culinary mastery as orchestrated by Executive Chef Ted Gidley and his adept staff. “Ted won’t say a lot, but just to watch him and the other chefs work…they’re so good at what they do it’s insane,” Ventura said.
He maintains that among the many benefits of working at The Cooke House is the diversity of the summer staff. “They do such a good job with hiring in general but in summertime, college students come from all over the world – Montenegro, Romania Kazakhstan – it’s an aspect of the job I never thought possible.”
As such, he’s planned a trip to Thailand, with stops in a few other countries, for February 2025 to visit some of the kids he’s met there from overseas, while Davis is headed to his family’s property in Puerto Rico, starting in November, for several months. But for both, The Clarke Cooke House is now a permanent part of their stories.
“I love that house,” said Davis. “It’s hands down one of the best restaurants on the island let alone the East Coast, very well known in the sailing community and as part of Newport’s history. You get a glimpse of the elitist of the elite up there, and I’m happy to give up my Friday and Saturday nights to make (great money).”
“It’s fun to be a stranger in a strange land,” said Ventura, “but Newport will always be home base.”
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