Charlie Palmer (chef)

Charlie Palmer is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and author. He is best known for his namesake Michelin star restaurant Aureole in Las Vegas and sister restaurant in New York.^[1] He has received three Michelin stars.^[2] Palmer appeared as a guest judge on Top Chef season 6 and has previously employed contestant Bryan Voltaggio.^[2]

1. ^ Delaney, Arthur (30 November 2009). "No Recession Special On The D.C. Power Lunch Menu". Huffington Post (USA). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/30/no-recession-special-on-t_n_373681.html. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Simmons, Krista (19 November 2009). "Top Chef: Where do you go from here?". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2009/11/top-chef-in-its-prime.html. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 

Since the beginning of his celebrated career, master Chef and hospitality entrepreneur Charlie Palmer has received critical acclaim for his signature Progressive American Cooking, a style built on rambunctious flavors and unexpected combinations with a deep and lasting infusion of classical French cuisine. Influenced by his childhood experiences working in his family's vegetable garden, Palmer was an early advocate of farm over factory food.

Born and raised in upstate New York and classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Charlie Palmer first burst onto the New York dining scene in the mid-eighties when he was named executive chef at The River Café. He soon earned a prestigious three stars from The New York Times. It was also at The River Café that Palmer hired, trained and inspired a legion of young cooks who have gone on to become some of America's leading chefs-from Diane Forley of Verbena in New York and Michael Mina of Aqua in San Francisco.

"I realized that American cuisine was just in its infancy and I spent a lot of time thinking about what the idea of American cooking really meant to me as a chef," says Palmer. "My experience growing up on a farm and my time spent at Georges Blanc in France where one artisanal producer would bring all of his perfectly made goat cheese to the doorstep of our kitchen had a strong impact on me. So, I began to research my own small American producers and support them in an effort to use the best raw products available at Aureole - it inspired my creative juices and helped to mold my style."

In 1988, at just 28, he made a landmark commitment to creating dishes featuring regional American ingredients at his sublime three-star Aureole, once situated in a historic town house off Manhattan's Madison Avenue. Today Palmer's flagship Aureole is strategically located within mid-town's dramatically modern Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park.

Over the years, Palmer combined his creative cooking spirit and flair for business to open 11 notable restaurants across the country, a growing collection of food-forward wine shops and award-winning boutique hotels. But even today, the chef still steps in the kitchen with reinvention on his mind. "Without a doubt, people eat with their eye long before they put fork to food, so I continue to look for a playful yet respectful way to create excitement on the plate."

After opening Aureole, in 1997 he opened Astra in New York, a café and event space in Midtown's Decoration & Design Building. He then opened a second location Aureole in Las Vegas in 1999, featuring an award-winning four story wine tower. Also in Las Vegas in 1999, he opened Charlie Palmer Steak, carrying on the tradition of the great American steakhouse. n 2001, he opened Dry Creek Kitchen in, Healdsburg, CA, a showcase for the bounty of Sonoma County. Also in 2001, he opened the Hotel Healdsburg, bordering the historic town square and new home of Dry Creek Kitchen. Charlie continued his expansion when he opened Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, DC in 2003. The restaurant is situated on the National Mall with views of the Capitol. He then had the opportunity to open another Charlie Palmer Steak restaurant in the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada in 2007. Trying out yet another part of the country, Charlie opened Charlie Palmer at The Joule, Dallas, in the heart of downtown and Next Vintage Wine Shop, the first of Palmer's food-forward wine shops.

Charlie then returned to California to open Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, CA, a new dining destination in Southern California's premier shopping destination in 2008 along with a second location of Next Vintage Wine Shop, the first Palmer wine shop to ship wine straight to your door step. His most recent addition to his empire is Briscola, the first Palmer Italian restaurant, in the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno. The Charlie Palmer Hotel in Las Vegas is currently under development at Symphony Park in the heart of downtown. The hotel features sumptuous accommodations with elevated amenities such as a 10,000 square-foot-spa that combines recreational fitness and restorative wellness treatments, a Hollywood-style pool surrounded by tented cabanas, and signature Palmer dining experiences including a sky terrace that overlooks Symphony Park and The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Additionally Chef Palmer is planning a new restaurant concept in Denver, CO due to open in Fall 2011.

A frequent guest on NBC's Today Show, Charlie Palmer is also the author of four cookbooks, Great American Food, Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking, The Art of Aureole, and Charlie Palmer's Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen.

External links

• Charlie Palmer website

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