vice president
Peter Cooper '77
Executive Chef / Proprietor
The Harvest Restaurant
37 Putnam Road
Pomfret, CT
AS Culinary Arts
At a young age, but with a sharpening focus and a healthy passion for the culinary arts, Peter started a career in foodservice at the age of 13, working his way up the ranks at The Elms Inn in Ridgefield, Conn. There he working with the Scala family, one with a long history of professional cooking and a true love for great food.
While genetics play a key role in who we are, so too do our experiences and our environment.
Perhaps it was the moving around, getting a sense of differences, pursuing a degree in business administration, getting back into the restaurant industry or the “move back home” due to the loss of his father, any of these events could have led him back to his original passion, cooking. All of these events however led to Peter becoming the first Advanced Standing Student in Culinary Arts at Johnson and Wales University, at the age of 24, married and already a part of the “real world”. He graduated first in his class, summa cum laude. He then became part of the early years of Johnson and Wales University, as we know it today, working with John J Bowen ’77 as the Assistant Director of Career Planning. Soon his career took him into the restaurant world as an Executive Chef for the Carlton Club with the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Chicago, and then back to the University as the Executive Chef in the school’s still developing culinary division.
As the Chef, Owner and President of The Harvest, a 350 seat restaurant in Pomfret, Conn. that has accolades from critics around the country, Peter incorporates his positive energy and philosophy into food, dining and life. He’ll tell you himself that he is social by nature, able to blend with diverse groups of people and has a passion to build-business, structures and most of all people.
New England is home to Peter and his influence extends into many of the fine restaurants for which he has served as a consultant. His perception, intuition, talent and philosophy have enabled many to “seize the day” and have faith that we may someday live in a better world. Association.