Michael Galata was born in 1980 in New Jersey where he grew up in his family’s restaurant. This is where he was initially exposed to the business as a whole and where he discovered his love for food and his talent in cooking. He worked since the young age from the ground up. After graduating from high school, Michael took over kitchen and helped to manage the business. At the same time he attended Hudson County Community College culinary arts program and in 1999 earned Associate Degree.

Michael went on to work at the Stage House Inn ( 3 star New York Times ) under Chef/owner David Drake. That’s where he was exposed to and learned all the practical foun-dations of fine dining as well as the determination and dedi-cation that are involved in the process. After two years, Mi-chael, 21 years old, inspired, was ready to move on. That’s when his journey with the Maccioni family and Le Cirque began and continues to this day. At Le Cirque 2000 Michael was working under chef Pierre Schaedelin. He worked his way from the bottom to the position of Sous Chef when he was 22. He was valued and appreciated by the Maccionis and was asked to join the new Le Cirque crew when it re-opened in May 2006.

During the time of constructing the new Le Cirque, Mi-chael did kitchen consulting and worked as a personal chef for different clients including Martha Stewart and the Gold family of Gold Foods International. Upon the opening of the new Le Cirque, Michael worked with chef Pierre Schendlin and later during the chef changes, he worked one year for chef Christophe Bellanca and eventually one year for chef Craig Hopson when he exited as executive Sous Chef in January 2010. The Maccioni family asked him to take over the Executive Chef position in their other restaurant in NYC, Osteria Del Circo where he is blossoming and creating fabu-lous Italian dishes. Besides his love for cooking and the restaurant business, Michael lives in Brooklyn with his beautiful girl-friend. He has a passion and loves to travel and learn about the world, people, cultures, and incorporates that knowledge into his life. He is a student of the world. His expression of art – cooking. Michael as a chef has passion for learning and is always trying to improve his food and technique. He knows that being a chef also means to be a leader and part of a team; that skill he learned from his father years ago … “we can always grow and improve no matter how satisfied we are with the current result.”

Chef Michael GalataThe Renaissance Man

Photography is the Chefs Hobby More at www.mikegalataphotography.com.

Interview With

/ Summer 2011 12

What is a “Renaissance Man?” We hear, all too often I think, that so-and-so is a Renaissance Man. It is usually understood that such a person is multifac-eted, in that he is a master of two or more decidedly different skills. If this is an acceptable definition of the term, then Michael Galata is for sure a Renaissance Man!

Galata was referred to me because of his position as chief chef at Osteria del Circo, at 120 W. 55th St. in Manhattan. This restaurant is the Italian spinoff of the world-famous Le Cirque, the brainchild of yet another Italian immigrant who became fabulously wealthy realizing the American Dream, Sirio Maccioni. When I, who will probably never dine at Le Cirque, innocently asked Michael who Sirio Maccioni is, he answered “He is the god of fine dining.” After doing some research on the Internet, I understand what he means. Le Cirque is more than a French restaurant, where you might start off your meal with scrambled eggs and caviar, it is a New York institution, the capital of a dining empire that now extends to several continents. It is a tribute to Michael Galata’s culinary skills that he became the sous chef of Le Cirque in his early twenties. It is fitting that Galata, whose people come from Calabria, was tapped to be the head man in the kitchen of the Osteria when Sirio Maccioni decided to open an Italian version of his established palace of the pampered palate. “I was raised in my family’s Italian restaurant in Westfield, New Jersey,” says Michael. “After culinary school I honed my skill at French cuisine as a cook at Le Cirque.” The Osteria del Circo offers fare that one might not find at a typical Italian restau-rant. For dinner you can order dishes like Hawaiian Sushi Tuna, Brandy Flam-béed Shrimp with fried artichokes, pumpkin tortelli with an Amaretto crumble, pappardelle with duck ragu and Pecorino crusted rack of lamb. For dessert, try an apple raisin tart with gelato.

Nevertheless Michael believes that Italian is the dominant ethnic cuisine, “because of its simple ingredients and purity.” (By the way, at the Osteria you can get pizza or pasta with Bolognese sauce if you want something more “simple.’) Galata works hard at his restaurant: “I spend exactly 12 hours per day there.” His dedication and skill have earned him the attention of a previ-ous subject of Amici Journal, Nick Stellino, probably the King of Italian TV chefs. “I’ve done a show with Stellino and will be featured in another on TBS” in a couple of months. Many of his recipes “come from Mrs. [Egidiana] Maccioni,” Sirio’s wife. His own creations “are seasonally driven, but certain staples work year round.” Not surprisingly, given all the time he puts in cook-ing for a living, he rarely cooks for himself at home. “I go out for dinner at least one or two times a week.”

With all Michael Galata has going as the chef of an upscale mid-town Manhattan eatery you’d think that was enough for anyone, right? Wrong! With his extensive experience in gourmet cooking, I figured that he’d al-ready have written a book on the subject or be coming out with one soon. So I was taken aback when Michael told me, “Not right now, but I’d like to do a book of my photography,” which he described as his “hobby.” I personally think it’s more than that. He has quite a few samples of his work online at www.mikegalataphotography.com.

Browsing through his web site it is not hard to appreciate Galata’s artist-ry, when it comes to photography. The man is fascinated by bright colors and honest emotion. He obviously has traveled extensively to some very exotic places and has made a vital and creative photographic record of the both the scenery and the people he has encountered. He also has a very enjoyable batch of interesting photos of the often surreal environment of New York City. It’s easy to imagine the publication of a book of Michael Galata’s photography.

Ingridients1500 Grams Durum Flour30 Grams Pumpkin Seed Oil3 Whole Eggs45 Gram Salt1 Large pumpkin (quartered and seeded)8 oz. finely chopped mustard fruit12 oz Parmigiano½ oz Ground Nutmeg2oz SaltPumpkin Tortelli Dough Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixer with dough hook and add all the wet ingredients. Let the dough sit for 24 hours. Pumpkin Puree RecipeRoast pumpkin in 400F convection oven for 2 hours until soft. Mash through the foodmill and hang in a sieve over a bowl in a refrigerator for 12-14 hours. Discard the liquid. Mix all the remaining ingredients.

Pumpkin Tortelli

Tortellis are served with brown butter sauce.

Grilled Octopus with Chorizo, Chickpeas, Roasted Pear Tomatoes, Charred Scallions and Black Kale, Serves 2Ingredients 2 baby octopi (poached in white wine and carrots, onions and celery for 2 hours until soft)

1 chorizo sausage (grilled and sliced into ¼ inch circles)8oz cooked chickpeas (cooked till soft with onions and garlic)4 scallions (grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper until charred)10 grape tomatoes (roasted whole at 400F for 16 min)4 oz black kale blanched and shocked2oz fresh bread croutons1 Tbsp of sherry vinegar1oz extra virgin olive oilfreshly ground black pepper to tasteCut the tentacles off the octopus and toss them in olive oil, salt and pep-

per. Grill them until crispy and reserve. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan, add chorizo, grape tomatoes and roast for 2 min.Crush the tomatoes with the back of the spoon, add 8oz of cooked chickpeas and 2oz of the chickpea cooking broth. Add scallions, black kale, sherry wine vinegar and bring to a boil for 1 min. Remove from the heat, add croutons and cracked black pepper. In a bowl place chickpea mixture with the broth and top with the octopus. Garnish with fresh basil and olive oil.

Polpo alla Brace

So Michael is a “Renaissance Man” in his dual appeal to the visual and gastronomic senses. It is rare that one man can please his diners and his viewers in so many ways. It won’t be long before his accomplishments as both a chef and a photographer will be celebrated in a big way!

By: John Rizzo

Summer 2011 / 13