Marina Gregson, 33, executive chef at The Fifth Element, has spent the past year and a half working to showcase her creativity at the Newport eatery.
Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., she works with nearly a dozen staff members after having served as sous chef from 2012 to 2014 at 22 Bowen’s at Bowen’s Wharf in Newport. Two years prior to that, she helped open a vegan gluten-free café called Keenwha, also in Newport.
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“I was ready for a move, a change of pace in my career, something smaller,” she explained. “My style of cooking is a little bit of everything: I focus on seasonality and add a bit of South American flavor.”
Brazilian traditions tend to mix sweet and spicy with savory food, and that influences her.
“It’s almost like a little surprise clients are not expecting,” she said of that approach. “I just want to introduce them to different flavor combinations.”
Brian Mansfield, who hired her at The Mooring in various capacities in 2008, taught Gregson to listen to her workers and put their needs ahead of the customer.
“He taught me that behind every good chef, there’s an army of people that make that chef look good,” she said. n
Favorite dish to make: Soups – every single kind
Dining when not cooking: Malt or Caleb and Broad in Newport
Most admired living chef: Alex Guarnaschelli of Butter in New York City
Why Rhode Island? The friendliness and warmth of Rhode Islanders
