Executive Chef,

Radomir Klipa

 

Meet the Wooden Nickel in Monroeville’s Executive Chef, Radomir Klipa! Radomir, 30, was born in Karlovac, Serbia, and moved to the Pittsburgh area when he was six years old.  He graduated from Penn Trafford High School in 2008, and then continued to pursue a career as a chef in the restaurant industry.   Radomir’s start in the restaurant industry began at Pasqualinos in Murrysville at the age of 15.  He started as a dishwasher/busboy, and he quickly moved up the line to the pasta station and then to making pizzas/hoagies.  Radomir wanted to learn more about the culinary industry, so he then applied to Johnny’s in Wilmerding.  At the age of 18, he started there as the fry cook and then quickly moved forward to working as a sauté and prep cook.  Working at Johnny’s allowed Radomir to learn how to make a variety of different sauces, soups, and Italian inspired cuisine.  After working at Johnny’s came an opportunity to become a kitchen manager at Nardi’s fine dining restaurant in Monroeville.  Radomir was only there for a short time before he accepted a position at Bone Works Bar and Grille.  His position there allowed him to learn how to maintain quality while preparing mass quantity of items for a bar/casual fine dining setting.  

 

Radomir wanted to learn more about the fine dining aspect of the culinary industry, which is how he ended up at The Wooden Nickel.  He started at The Wooden Nickel in early 2012 as a line cook rounds man.   Radomir was willing and able to work any station in the kitchen.  After a short while, he was promoted to Sous Chef at the Monroeville location and now holds the position of Executive Chef.  While working at The Wooden Nickel over the past few years, Radomir was able to participate in the preparation of Chaine dinners for both Chef Joe Bello and Chef Craig Wolf.  He was also able to create menus and pairings for wine dinners, beer dinners, and whiskey dinners held at The Wooden Nickel.