Rising Star Chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern - Biography

2007 New York Rising Star Chef Michael Anthony grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from Indiana University with degrees in Business, French, and Japanese. After graduating, he moved to Tokyo to hone his language skills, but ended up developing an interest in the local culinary scene. He worked in a bakery and a farm and eventually a restaurant: Bistro Shima, a small French bistro in Tokyo, with chef Shizuyo Shima.

Heeding Shima’s advice, Anthony moved to Paris in 1992, enrolled in culinary school at Le Ferrandi, and began a rigorous apprenticeship with Chef Jean Delaveyne at Le Camélia in Bougival. By the time he had completed his training, he had a job waiting for him in the kitchen of Jacques Cagna. Anthony would later return to Paris to work in the kitchens of both L’Arpege and Pascal Barbot’s L’Astrance.

After his Jacques Cagna stint, Anthony left Paris for New York, working first at Daniel and then as chef de cuisine at March, where he also played an integral role in the restaurant’s redesign. After March, Anthony returned to Paris for a summer to work for Chef Michel Guérard at Le Prés d’Eugénie. After returning to New York, he joined the team of Blue Hill, first as co-chef of the Manhattan outpost and later as the opening executive chef at Blue Hill Stone Barns, located on the farm in upstate New York. There Anthony and Chef-owner Dan Barber had the opportunity to build a restaurant that embodied the “farm to table” concept, thanks to the abundance of farm-fresh ingredients they had at their disposal.

After four years at Blue Hill Stone Barns, Anthony returned to New York in September 2006 as Executive Chef of Gramercy Tavern, bringing new life to a New York City classic and re-earning the restaurant's 3 stars from The New York Times. At Gramercy Tavern, Anthony is an active part of the local community, giving tours to students from nearby elementary schools, starting a greenhouse project at Washington Irving High, and arranging visits to local farms for his staff, teaching them first-hand how and where the food they serve each day is grown.