A Partnership Begins: Chef Shea Gallante

We're proud to announce a partnership with a great chef, Shea Gallante. Shea s the Executive Chef & Partner of CRU restaurant and wine bar. He will be writing the occasional article, but we're most excited about Shea joining us at the NRA (National Restaurant Association) Show in Chicago this month.

Below is Shea's very impressive Bio...

At the age of 14, I began my career with food working at a pizzeria in my hometown of Clinton Corners, NY. From there I moved on to a “Mom & Pop” Owned trattoria. By the age of 19, after attending Community College, I envisioned a lonesome and boring career in accounting. It was at this point in my life that I decided to open my own pizzeria. While independent, I was still seriously determined to expand my culinary knowledge and skills. Within the year I was accepted at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and envisioning my next dream: to work successfully in a New York City restaurant.

So there it was, upon graduation, on to my first job in New York City. It consisted of a four-hour daily commute to the City’s Coco Opera. My responsibilities had ranged from ordering product and maintaining food costs to managing a restaurant staff, a bakery and my own daily cooking duties. After one year I was happy to rise to the new position of sous-chef.

Longing to return to my native family cuisine, I began searching for the best Italian kitchen in New York. I met the godmother of Italian-American cooking, Lidia Bastianich. I also began experimenting with new techniques in my spare time. I was promoted quickly to sous-chef at the three-star Felidia, but within two years I moved on to David Bouley in 2000.


I’d spent years surrounded by food, but this was a new experience for me. David Bouley dared me to be a visionary, to imagine the end result of the dish before ever lifting my knife. For six months, I studied the complex Chef’s Tasting Menus, recreating each dish, in preparation for my promotion to sous-chef. Four months later, in 2001, I was promoted to Chef de Cuisine of Bouley. While managing Bouley’s kitchen, I explored the avant-garde techniques of the Spanish masters, and my personal style simultaneously began to emerge. A desire for innovation and new challenges motivated me to dream of my own restaurant, where I could showcase my cuisine to New York diners.

And now, today, I am delighted to be the Executive Chef & Partner of CRU. Now, at the restaurant I dreamed of, I work with an energetic and creative staff daily serving guests in a lovely dining room on lower Fifth Avenue. Each day brings fresh challenges and each evening new experiences.

But my key to success is not just what I’ve learned and what I’ve applied, it’s in the strong support of partners and a loyal team. Restaurants succeed when Vendors, Cooks, Servers and Patrons coalesce, everyone contributing what they do best.

DayMark Safety Systems provides the safety net every food service organization requires. Their vision syncs with my standard of always serving safe food. For example my menu nearly always includes the innovative preparation of food called sous vide. This process requires stringent temperature and time monitoring. DayMark knows the importance of tracking proper temperature and time limits in the kitchen and delivered the solution for correctly implementing critical documentation that makes the process work easily, effectively and safely.

That is only one isolated example. Safe operations is crucial in every step in every station for every process and DayMark Safety Systems offers the tools, services and expertise to make sure every kitchen has food safety, personal safety, facility safety and education and training.

Thank you, DayMark for allowing me to assist you with this book. I am confident that True Kitchen Confessions will bring new awareness to all members of the food service industry and is undoubtedly a huge step towards making our world a safer place to eat, work and live.