CHEFSRick TramontoCulinary Director/Executive Chef
Rick Tramonto's 25-year restaurant career has been a climb to the stars. "Tramonto is a blend of mad scientist and magician in the kitchen. He is innovative, creative and somewhat an illusionist," wrote Pat Bruno in the Chicago Sun-Times. As culinary director and executive chef of Cenitare Restaurants LLC, Tramonto's new restaurant management and development company, he is ready to open four new concepts in the Chicago market in autumn 2006 with longtime culinary partner Gale Gand, including Tramonto's Steak & Seafood, Osteria di Tramonto, the RT Lounge, and Gale's Coffee Bar. Tramonto continues his role as executive chef with pastry chef Gand at their world-renowned culinary masterpiece four-star Mobil Tru, in partnership with Rich Melman, chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Thanks to his unbridled creativity, Tramonto has garnered international attention and a host of prestigious awards. In 1994, Food & Wine recognized Tramonto as one of the Top Ten Best New Chefs in the country, one of the highest culinary achievements that a new chef can attain. In 1995, he was recognized as one of America's Rising Star Chefs by Robert Mondavi. Tramonto's vision propelled the four-star Mobil, five-diamond AAA restaurant Tru to be named a Relais-Gourmand property by Relais & Chateaux in fall 2002, Tramonto being one of the youngest chefs ever inducted to the coveted list. Four-star Tru (Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Magazine) was named the most popular Chicago restaurant by the Zagat Survey, while Chicago Magazine awarded Tru Best Restaurant in its 2002 and 2004 Dining Awards. Tramonto's history with The James Beard Foundation Awards is exemplary, being named Best Chef: Midwest Region in 2002, following up on a Best New Restaurant nomination from the foundation in 2000. His commitment to a culture of highest possible standards of guest service in his restaurants has earned consecutive nominations for the Outstanding Service Award by the foundation, securing the award in 2007. Tru was the recipient of the 2003 IVY award by Restaurants & Institutions, inducted into Nation's Restaurant News 2004 Fine Dining Hall of Fame, and he has been honored with the Wine Spectator Grand Award, one of the most highly coveted acknowledgments in the food and wine industry, every year since 2004. Because of his star quality, Tramonto has been praised by USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, People, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Wine Spectator, and Conde Nast Traveler. He has a history of television work, too, appearing on Oprah, Today, CBS This Morning. and the TV Food Network. He has also worked extensively with PBS, having appeared on the "Chicago Great Chefs" series, the "Great Chefs Great Cities" series, and most recently the forthcoming "At the Chef's Table." Tramonto is an accomplished cookbook author. His first book, American Brasserie, written with Gand, hit the shelves in October 1997 and was named as a finalist for the Julia Child Cook Book Awards through the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Their second book, Butter Sugar Flour Eggs, was released in October 1999 and nominated for the 2000 James Beard Award for the Best Cookbook in the Baking and Desserts category. In October 2002, Random House published Amuse-Bouche, which features the little bites Tramonto has become known for. In November 2004 he released Tru: A Cookbook From the Legendary Chicago Restaurant. He is working on his next book about small plates, Italian-style, Fantastico!, to be released this year. A spokesperson and consultant for many well-known companies and products including Nestle, Sunkist, the Chef's Catalogue, Calphalon, Prosciutto di Parma for the Italian Consortio, Illy Coffee, and ISI North America, he is also a board member of the Culinary Vegetable Institute and is on the National Board of Chefs of the American Culinary Institute. BACKGROUND A Rochester, New York native, Tramonto was uninterested during his teen years in traditional academics, choosing instead to enroll in a vocational tech program where he learned the skills of cooking. He then went to work full-time at Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers to help out his family, earning $200 for a six-day workweek. He left after two years, becoming grill/sauté cook at The Scotch & Sirloin, which led to his first real culinary experience at the Strathallen Hotel. Under the tutelage of Chef Greg Broman, Tramonto learned the techniques of classic French cuisine in the hotel's first-class kitchen. He met partner Gale Gand at Strathallen. Young and ambitious, Tramonto moved to New York in 1985, where he worked at the legendary Tavern on the Green. From there he joined Chef Alfred Portale as line cook at Gotham Bar & Grill and was part of the brigade awarded three stars by The New York Times. He also worked under Chef Gerard Panguad at Aurora. Tramonto was brought to Chicago by Richard Melman in 1987 to work at his popular Lettuce Entertain You restaurants Scoozi! and Avanzare. He then went on to open and work at several other Lettuce Entertain You establishments. After moving to Charlie Trotter's in 1989, he received a call from Bob Payton, who operated 14 American-style restaurants in London (My Kinda Town, Ltd.) and 17 other venues across Europe. Payton asked Tramonto and Gand to transform the kitchen and cuisine at his award-winning country-house hotel, Stapleford Park, in Leicestershire, outside London. They accepted the opportunity to live and work in England, France, and Spain. Their proudest moment was receiving the coveted Michelin Guide's Red "M" after only a year at Stapleford, a feat not accomplished by an American in five years. Reopening The Criterion Brasserie in Piccadilly Circus, London, the restaurant made famous in a Sherlock Holmes novel, with Bob Payton and Rocko Forte of the Trusthouse Forte Hotel Group, Tramonto was allowed to work with some of the world's greatest chefs, including Chef Pierre Gagnaire, Chef Anton Mosimann, Chef Michel Guerard, and Chef Raymond Blanc. He returned to Chicago in 1993 after this three-year experience abroad. Tramonto's passion for food, unique culinary style, and his proven track record at home and abroad provided him a solid foundation to partner in a successful restaurant. When he and Gand opened Trio in 1993, the restaurant was an immediate triumph, earning Chicago Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel's first four-star rating in six years. The two sold their partnership in 1995 after opening the popular Brasserie T, which they closed in 2001 to fully focus on Tru. In 2004, Tramonto opened his Italian concept, Osteria Via Stato, and now looks forward to opening his new Cenitare projects in the Chicago region and then expanding nationally. |