Backstory: Damien, Pizza Chef 🍕

About Sagecliffe Pizza

Sagecliffe Resort already has an existing fine-dining restaurant, Tendrils, which receives plenty of love from locals and guests alike. However, it was time to do something new. So, we bought a pizza oven and spent weeks developing our perfect crust, sauce, and selection of toppings. Not long later, and Sagecliffe Pizza came to life!

All we needed was a Pizza Chef to take charge, and along came Chef Damien. Damien first started his journey with Sagecliffe working in Tendrils with Dezmon as a sauté cook, then after some time, he moved to manage the pizza oven and has been creating the pizza perfetta ever since.

Damien makes all of his dough from scratch using water, flour, yeast and a local olive oil from D’Olivo Olive Oil Company at Pybis Market. He also prepares our special Sagecliffe sauce from San Marzano tomatoes imported straight from Italy.

Damien’s story started in the Bronx, New York, in 1980, but he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, as a toddler. His childhood was split between the 49th State and New York, where he would spend summers with his father. At 20, Damien moved to Florida to attend culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Miami. After gaining experience at Kapow Noodle Bar, the Grand Lux Cafe and Seito Sushi, Damien made the move to Washington to be with his high school sweetheart.

In Washington, he became the Executive Chef at Chateau Faire Le Pont Winery for 3 years until the pandemic hit. Then, he moved to Quincy, where he’s been working at the Sagecliffe Resort and Spa, alongside Executive Chef Dezmon. Damien has always had a passion for pizza, so it was only natural that he took on the role of Pizza Chef. Since then, he’s spent time perfecting his signature crust, which he describes as a mix of both Neapolitan and New-York-style.