Chefs to Watch 2016: Justin Severino, Cure and Morcilla, Pittsburgh

Justin Severino started cooking right out of high school. But his initial training wasn’t typical of a James Beard-nominated chef.

“I asked my mom how to cook some things,” says Severino. “I just knew I couldn’t eat any more fast-food sandwiches.”

At the time, he was working for his father’s construction firm, which meant staying at hotels to be near the work site Monday through Friday. “After I knew how to cook...