By LEO V. KAPLAN
When Kevin Cronin ended a nearly 20-year stretch as executive chef at Dusty’s Wine Bar in 2015, he didn’t intend to come back.
Over the next decade, while Cronin opened a food truck, worked as executive chef at Morton’s Fine Catering and cooked up other ventures, Dusty’s went through changes of its own. It rotated through several menu concepts, pricing models and target markets. Cronin said there were six different chefs in that time. In July, the wine bar closed temporarily.
“There was no consistency; there were pricing issues, guys that didn’t really have their finger on the pulse of this market,” Cronin said. “This market doesn’t want super high-end, expensive things. They want nice, comfort-style foods done well, with good ingredients, at a price people can afford.”
Last year, owner Matt Rhodes, son of founder Clarence “Dusty” Rhodes, suggested Cronin make a guest appearance for an Italian wine dinner. It went well, spawning a discussion about reopening the wine bar with Cronin at the helm.
“I told Matt that I’m pretty much retired, but I wanted to come back here, work with Matt again and get this place straightened out,” Cronin said.
On Nov. 21, Dusty’s held a soft reopening with Cronin back in the kitchen. It’s a homecoming for “Chef Kevin,” as he’s known locally, but the Italian-focused concept is new, inspired by dishes he encountered while working with chefs in Rome.
“It’s more of an urban, trendy Italian style,” he said. “Not spaghetti and meatballs, but more regional Italian dishes.”
Cronin said a major focus for him is quality. That means using authentic ingredients like real San Marzano tomatoes and branzino, a fish popular in Italy. It means working with local farmers and visiting the places he sources food from, sometimes switching purveyors if he doesn’t like the way they run things. It also means implementing authentic cooking methods.
“I was inspired when I went to Rome and the guys were making a different pasta every day,” he said. “They showed me how they were doing it, and I said, ‘I want to replicate that. I want to do it the right way.’”
Cronin said Rhodes has allowed him near-complete freedom in the kitchen. Cronin controls the ingredients, the menu and the hiring.
“Matt has given me the freedom and trust that very few chefs deserve, and I’m humbled by that. I take that very seriously,” Cronin said.
It’s not the first time Cronin has felt humbled by Rhodes’ actions. In 2023, when Cronin was struggling financially amid a years-long battle with colon cancer, Rhodes, along with local culinary entrepreneurs Matt Gillett and Bethany and John Morton, hosted a fundraiser for him.
Now on the upswing from cancer, Cronin sees coming back to Dusty’s as a way to pay back the favor.
“Those three owners put together a fundraiser for me, and I’m not going to forget that,” he said. “So, it’s paying it forward right now. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Looking onward, Cronin is trying to instill a “value-oriented” approach in Dusty’s. He hopes it will bring customers in more often.
“Before, you’d go out on a special occasion, maybe once a year,” he said. “I want you here once a month.”
Dining and Cooking