Monday, September 19, 7:00 pm
Members $100, guests $125

In New York City restaurant lore there is no more formidable opponent than the jinxed location. Opening a successful restaurant in a spot where all others have failed is one of the most challenging obstacles a new restaurant can surmount. But despite signing the lease at 24 Fifth Avenue—the landmark building in Greenwich Village with a history of many promising yet short-lived ventures—Cru has gone from being one of the country’s most highly acclaimed newcomers to being a bona fide success.

Executive chef Shea Gallante has proven to be the guiding force that broke the spell. He was recently named to Food & Wine’s list of Best New Chefs of 2005 for what the magazine’s Kate Krader called his “unstoppable spirit of experimentation” and “wonderful avant-garde dishes.” The New York Times’ Frank Bruni awarded the restaurant three stars, noting that Gallante “walks a pitch perfect line between precious and creative.” Anthony Giglio of the New York Sun agreed, praising the chef for “pushing the limits of conventional cuisine with equal parts sense of humor and sense of adventure.”

Raised in an Italian American family in Poughkeepsie, New York, Gallante’s introduction to the cooking world came at the age of 14, when he took a job at a local pizza parlor. By the time he was 19, he had opened his own pizzeria. After earning a degree from the CIA, Gallante moved to New York City, where he cooked for two years at Coco Pazzo Teatro and then for another two as sous-chef at Felidia. His next position, chef de cuisine at Bouley, inspired him to explore new territory and cultivate his own cooking style. In 2004 his golden opportunity arrived when noted oenophile Roy Welland recruited Gallante as executive chef for his new project, Cru.

Drawing from his wide range of experiences, Gallante created a modern European menu that Bruni described as “tilting heavily toward Italy, nodding slightly toward Spain,” and that is specifically designed to complement Cru’s 65,000-bottle wine cellar. Foodies and oenophiles alike have been seduced by the thoughtful harmony between plate and glass orchestrated by Gallante and general manager and wine director Robert Bohr. Travel + Leisure selected Cru as one of its Best New American Restaurants and Condé Nast Traveler placed it on its Hot List of Best Places to Be. Save the burning sage, it would appear the curse has been lifted.