Chef Ruth-Anne Adams
Growing up in Sherborn, Massachusetts Ruth-Anne Adams loved making chocolate chip cookies
with her grandmother. It was only when she was older that Ruth-Anne learned
that the cookies were slice-and-bake. But, the memories were homemade – and
were the start of her passion for the kitchen.
During high school, Ruth-Anne was always baking, and scouring recipes from her great aunt’s cookbooks and chocolate magazines. She attended Loyola College in Maryland, where she received an accounting degree. However, Ruth-Anne was more interested in measuring cups than number crunching so she enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.
It was at the CIA that Ruth-Anne had her first taste of life in a professional kitchen. She had an externship at Mark Miller’s Red Sage in Washington, DC and was excited by the Southwestern cuisine and fast-paced environment. She came to work early and stayed late, trying to absorb everything.
Ruth-Anne graduated from the CIA in 1993, and shortly after, joined the team at Michela’s in Cambridge. From there, Ruth-Anne did a short stint at The Blue Room under Chris Schlesinger, and then helped open Rialto in 1994. Working with Jody Adams for eight years, Ruth-Anne moved her way through the kitchen and eventually became executive sous chef at Rialto and chef de cuisine at Red Clay. It was in the Rialto kitchen that Ruth-Anne met her husband, Tom Fosnot.
Ruth-Anne took on her first executive chef position in 2000, at Casablanca Restaurant in Harvard Square. There, she developed a menu that included foods from Mediterranean countries, such as Greece, Turkey and Morocco. Ruth-Anne also made sure to feature local ingredients in her dishes and was inspired by produce from New England farms.
During her time at Casablanca, the restaurant earned Boston Magazine’s “Best Neighborhood Restaurant” honor in 2002 and 2003. Ruth-Anne also contributed recipes to cookbooks such as Ana Sortun’s “Spice – Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean” and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s “Great Chefs Cooking for Great Friends.”
After more than five years, Ruth-Anne left Casablanca to take care of her two young sons, Finn and William. After the birth of her second son, she cooked part-time at Hamersley’s Bistro, a restaurant at which Ruth-Anne had always dreamed of working. She is now creating Ligurian-inspired desserts for the new Rocca Kitchen & Bar in Boston’s South End, where her husband is chef.
With the launch of “Let’s Eat,” Ruth-Anne hopes to share her love of cooking and teaching with others.
“It’s a fast-paced world, and being able to cook and bring people together is very rewarding to me,” she says. “It’s a very special feeling to be able to cook for somebody. I want to help others share the joy of food with their friends and loved ones.”