Tuesday, October 26, 7:00 pm
Members $100, guests
$125
“For me, one of the most exciting parts of dining out is
when the waiter or waitress gets the attention of the table and
announces, ‘Tonight’s specials are…’ I
perk up and pay close attention, and you should too,” says
Michael Lomonaco, who has just been named chef/director of Guastavino’s
in Manhattan. And if you’ve ever struggled to figure out
what to cook for dinner, you might want to pay close attention
to Lomonaco’s forthcoming book: Nightly Specials: 125
Recipes for Spontaneous, Creative Cooking at Home. Co-authored
with noted cookbook writer Andrew Friedman, Nightly Specials translates
Lomonaco’s 20-plus years of experience in some of New York’s
finest restaurants into practical, imaginative dinner suggestions
for the home cook.
Originally trained as an actor—and fans of his former Food
Network show Michael’s Place can certainly attest
to his stage presence—Lomonaco worked in theater and film
for several years before his passion for cooking led him to the
hospitality program at CUNY’s New York City College of Technology.
In 1986 he joined the staff at Le Cirque, where he trained under
Alain Sailhac and Daniel Boulud. Lomonaco next moved to the newly
renovated ‘21’ Club, where he eventually became executive
chef, breathing new life into the New York institution.
Lomonaco’s deft hand at revitalization was clear when he was
appointed chef/director of the Windows on the World complex in 1997,
overseeing all culinary operations in the restaurant’s main
dining room, the more intimate Wild Blue, and the boisterous Greatest
Bar on Earth. Lomonaco put his stamp on the New York landmark with,
as Wine Spectator put it, his “lusty interpretation
of traditional dishes.”Gourmet’s David Rosengarten
was equally impressed with Lomonaco’s influence, declaring
his meal at Windows on the World “the restaurant’s finest
performance in fifteen years.” When Lomonaco and the Windows
team opened the pan-Latin nightclub, Noche, in Times Square, the
accolades went with them. In New York, Hal Rubinstein noted that
the bold Latin flavors—which he said “might be successfully
bottled as Noche: The Fragrance”—will “move you
to dance.” A consultant for Shore House in Connecticut, Lomonaco
is also acting as director and executive chef of Guastavino’s. |
