Rising Star Chef John daSilva of Spoke - Biography

Originally from Gloucester, Massachusetts, John daSilva knew he wanted to cook professionally as a teenager. After graduating from high school, he went straight into the New England Culinary Institute in Burlington, Vermont, to study cooking techniques and tradition.

daSilva continued his training at The Boarding House Restaurant on Nantucket Island, spending the next four years as sous chef under Executive Chef Erin Zircher—a period he still considers a defining experience, opening his eyes to all corners of the Mediterranean, and teaching him how to lead a kitchen.

It was a lesson that would serve him well when he moved back to Boston in 2008, working his way up the ranks of Barbara Lynch’s flagship, No. 9 Park and eventually becoming executive sous chef. In the meantime, he was named one of Zagat’s “30 Under 30” for Boston. But the real chance to lead came after daSilva spent a six month sabbatical working on a friend’s 10-acre farm in Concord. The immediacy of contact with local product inspired a fresh passion in him, a passion daSilva brings daily to the kitchen of Spoke Wine Bar in Somerville.