Biography

Michael Comire is the Executive Chef at URI and has delighted the URI community with outstanding culinary preparations since 2013. His affinity for food began when he was young, being the oldest child in his family, he was often tasked by his mother and father to help peel vegetables and cook meals with them at home. Trying out new recipes at home with family coupled with his parents’ encouragement fueled Mike’s passion to become a chef and make great food. He completed his internship at the Boston Marriott Newton and earned his Associate’s in Culinary Arts ‘86, and a Bachelor’s in Food Service Management ‘88, at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

For nine years Chef Mike has worked diligently to lead URI Catering to the high level of food presentation, quality and menu selections that guests currently enjoy at the many catered and sporting events at both the Kingston and Bay Campuses. He routinely attributes the daily successes of an event to the hard working staff behind the scenes and on-the-floor during an event. In 2017, Chef Mike launched three Crash Culinary Series live cooking demos at the Ram’s Den, showing students how to prepare and cook fresh vegetables that are readily available. He also enthusiastically represented URI in several culinary competitions including the Seafood Throwdown iron chef event at the New Bedford Farmers’ Market in 2018, presented by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, while that same year URI Catering received NACUFS Silver Award for the Catering Online Menu. Chef Mike also participated in the NACUFS Epicurean Pause Top Chef Challenge in Providence, 2015. 

Born in Rhode Island and raised in North Carolina, Chef Mike’s 40 year career spans many food, beverage and hospitality establishments. He worked in 3 upscale hotels, 3 restaurants and 2 steakhouses before graduating college which gave him the essential real world experience and skills to begin as a hotel sous chef, upon graduation, at the Adam’s Mark Hotel Charlotte. Chef Mike quickly moved up the culinary ladder to executive chef position at the prestigious Greenville Country Club in SC, then unto Clemson University as the Food Service Director.

Just before joining URI, he worked several jobs concurrently including the Hotel Viking Newport, Mews Tavern, Sergio’s Italian Ristorante, Horizon Bay Retirement Living and Brightview Commons Senior Living. He embraced working as a Nutrition Program Director for Meals on Wheels for MA, and as the Director of the Federal Summer Food Service Program for the City of Providence feeding up to 5000 children daily in 2008. Chef Mike has also worked in several Italian, French and Chinese restaurants. He has enjoyed ice carving and recently carved the URI Ram Logo into a pumpkin that randomly grew in the University’s President’s House garden.

Chef Mike has been featured in several magazines including Rhode Island Prime Time Magazine 2010, and Business North Carolina 1989. He participated in the Providence IceFire Winter Carnival ice carvings and was on the Channel 6 News in 2001. Chef Mike was on the committee and participated in ‘A Wish Come True’ fundraising event 2010. He has also compassionately helped start-up a new soup kitchen and volunteered during 1996-1997 in SC.

Chef Mike loves living in South Kingstown, RI with his wife, Beth, also a JWU graduate, and together they have successfully raised a beautiful family of eight children, now grown adults.