Rick Tramonto of Tru in Chicago
Chicago's Rick Tramonto is synonymous with excellence and innovation, and both traits come from a wealth of experience. Chef, author, TV food star—whatever his title, Tramonto stands for one of the most talented and savvy restaurant entrepreneurs in the Windy City, and he has the awards to prove it.
CMEplanner: What exactly are those awards?
Tramonto: I think they began in 1994, when I was one of Food & Wine's top new chefs. There were some local awards, and then in 2002 I was Best Chef Midwest Region for the James Beard Foundation. Tru also won the James Beard 2007 Outstanding Service Award.
CMEplanner: No plans to pack up and leave Chicago?
Tramonto: No plans. I'm so proud to be here. This is the place I always wanted to dig in. Great architecture, the beachfront, exciting music, sports...I'm proud to be part of Mayor Daley's team, bringing good food to the city.
CMEplanner: At Tru, how many multi-course menus do you offer?
Tramonto: Three. The first offers three courses, then there's the six and the last is a ten-course menu. The Tramonto Collection has hot and cold appetizers, a flight of four caviars, and the entrees include seafood, meat and game. And, of course, all of the multi-course menus include great desserts by our pastry chef Gale Gand, who has been a large part of our success from the beginning.
CMEplanner: Do you have a favorite food and wine?
Tramonto: That's tough, because it changes. But, as for basics, I've always stuck with linguini with white clam sauce, and a good Tuscan red wine, say one from Montepulciano.
CMEplanner: Are the surroundings important in a fine restaurant?
Tramonto: I've always thought so. When we built Tru eight years ago, we wanted the look to be contemporary, filled with art, spacious, comfortable. One of our customers said, "This is the place I come to luxuriate in the art of food and wine." I appreciate that, because of course we aim to create cuisine as art. And, we like to extend the art: from the work of some of the artists you'll find on our walls—including Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter and Yves Klein—to carefully emphasizing design and color in our tableware and the entire tablescape.
CMEplanner: Do you have a current passion?
Tramonto: Italy. Nothing new about that, except I hope my passion is reflected in my new cookbook. It's called "Fantastico!" and it's published in autumn 2007 by Broadway Books, a division of Random House. It was a fantastic trip, researching the book, and I was aiming in the book to reflect my tour of Italy, one small plate at a time.
CMEplanner: Do you plan to go beyond Tru?
Tramonto: We already have. In 2006, my culinary partner Gale Gand and I founded Cenitare Restaurants—a restaurant management and development company. We then opened four new concepts all in the northern suburbs of Chicago at The Westin Chicago North Shore: Tramonto's Steak & Seafood, Osteria di Tramonto and RT Lounge. These are taking up a lot of our time for now.
* * *
| SIGNATURE
DISH |
| Tempura rock shrimp tossed in lemongrass aioli and red finger chiles, paired with a Spatlese-level Riesling. |
Tru
676 N. Saint Claire St.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 202-0001
www.trurestaurant.com
|
