Alfred portale awards for all

YEAR: 2006

It takes time to appreciate home-cooked meals, and the love and care that goes into them. So it was for Portale, who would trade the brown-bag lunches his mother packed for him as a child for more appealing fare like Hostess cupcakes. With time, however, came his recognition of the pure and unfettered flavors of what he calls “clean cooking,” making seasonal ingredients sourced locally a priority at Gotham Bar and Grill, where he became chef in 1985. Within six months, he elevated the restaurant from a zero star rating in the New York Times to three stars.

It wasn’t just the rating that he elevated. Initially, Portale, who had begun his adult career as a jewelry designer, created dishes that towered — literally — over other fare being offered in Manhattan at the time. Incorporating gravity-defying designs into his award-winning meals, Gotham’s menu items were the bane of the wait staff, whose job it was to deliver the wobbly creations to delighted diners. While those architectural wonders have since been replaced with more down-to-earth creations, one legacy that remains are the chefs who have benefited from Portale’s mentorship, including fellow Outstanding Chef Tom Colicchio.

NextMario Batali

Age 65 is a career red light for most. Chef Alfred Portale blew right through this signal like a Ferrari, opening a namesake Italian restaurant in November. After a 35 year run as Executive Chef at the legendary Gotham Bar and Grill — he earned three James Beard awards, multiple glowing reviews from the New York Times, plus a Michelin star lasting more than three decades — Portale packed his knives and left his post last summer. During his Gotham tenure, he introduced us to New American cuisine, and along the way, mentored numerous chefs like Tom Colicchio, who have become as recognizable as their former boss.

With his latest incarnation, Portale continues as a guiding force, surrounding himself with young up and coming kitchen talent. He recognizes that to stay on top, the fresh ideas of this new generation are essential. Part of this crew includes his daughter Victoria, who runs social media and events, and a few trusted, long-time Gotham chefs, a seemingly winning combination thus far.

Portale was surprisingly relaxed during our meet-up at his eatery on a cold afternoon despite launching a new venture in the most cut-throat culinary city in the world under the weight of high expectations. Perhaps he never anticipated that an idea, hatched while designing a menu for a Bryant Park restaurant inspired by the French and Italian Riviera cuisine, would evolve into his Chelsea neighborhood Italian venue. Or maybe it was a relief that one week after introducing a lunch menu, the place was bustling with midday diners.

Nonetheless, Portale has created his version of a happy place, starting with the restaurant’s interiors. The design concept is mid-century modern Italian inspired by one of his favorite architects and furniture designers, Giò Ponti, who used a lot of brass, marble and walnut, all materials used for the bar.

Here he discusses

Alfred Portale, 52, has been the executive chef at New York's Gotham Bar and Grill since 1985. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., and a graduate (at the top of his class) of the Culinary Institute of America, Portale had a career in jewelry design before turning his artistic vision toward the kitchen. He is the author of three cookbooks and, after maintaining a presence at a single location for 23 years, is branching out for the first time with two outposts of Gotham Bar and Grill. The first, situated in the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, will feature a 10,000-bottle wine tower, and is slated for a fall 2008 opening. The second, in Fontainebleau Las Vegas, will open in fall 2009. Portale recently talked to Wine Spectator about making ravioli in France, matching white wine and cheese, and the importance of informed pairings.

Wine Spectator: How did you become interested in wine?
Alfred Portale: I came to Gotham 20 years ago. It was my first chef position, and I really came into it alone. The first person I hired was [general manager] Scott Carney, who had a strong interest in wine and a degree in international finance. While he was here, he studied for and passed the master sommelier exam, and at the time he was one of 30 in the United States. And being an up-and-coming intellectual sommelier type, his tastes ran to German and Austrian wines, French reds and white Burgundies. At the time—and this is both a curse and a blessing—I felt that I needed to focus 100 percent of my study and passion on food, but Scott got me started and I really developed a love for German and Austrian whites, and red and white Burgundy. My taste hasn't really changed so much since then, and those wines are very dear to my heart.

WS: How would you describe your collection?
AP: Well, Gotham is one big collection [laughing], but I do have a modest personal collection. Everyone should have a little stash. I have wine professionally stored in New York, and I a

Alfred Portale Biography

Alfred Portale graduated first in his class from the Culinary Institute of America. He worked in several of France's most revered kitchens, then returned to the United States, and, beginning in 1985, established himself as one of our most influential chefs at the Gotham Bar and Grill. Guided by his vision, Gotham was named "Most Outstanding Restaurant" in the nation by the James Beard Foundation, which also has named Portale himself Best Chef in New York City. His first book, Alfred Portale's Gotham Bar and Grill Cookbook, won the IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award. He lives with his wife and children in Manhattan.

Chef Portale has been awarded many accolades including the Ivy Awards, written three books between 1996 and 2004, and is actively involved in charities dedicated to providing food for the needy like Share our Strength, Citymeals-on-Wheels, American Chefs & Winemakers, James Beard tributes and Wolfgang Puck�s Annual American Food & Wine Festival. His other books are Alfred Portale's Twelve Seasons Cookbook : A Month-by-Month Guide to the Best There is to Eat (2000) and Alfred Portale Simple Pleasures : Home Cooking from the Gotham Bar and Grill's Acclaimed Chef (2004).

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