Richard Michael Tramonto (born May 30, 1963) is a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

and

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author. He was executive chef and partner in Tru, a contemporary fine-dining restaurant from

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. (LEYE) is a restaurant group currently comprising 120 or more restaurants mainly located in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded by Rich Melman and Jerry A. Orzoff in 1971. History The first res ...

Biography

A native of

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, Tramonto began his culinary career working in a Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. He later worked in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

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. In 1994, while at Trio in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, Tramonto was named among '' Food & Wine Magazine's'' Top Ten Best New Chefs. In 1999, he opened Tru with culinary partner Gale Gand and Rich Melman of

. Tramonto and his partners at Tru won the 2007 James Beard Foundation Award for Service. Tramonto was named the "Best Chef: Midwest Region" by The James Beard Foundation in 2002. At this time, Rick was also a featured chef on Great Chef television, appearing in episodes of '' Great Chefs of America'', '' Great Chefs - Great Cities'', ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...

'', ''

Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo (American TV network), Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff (media), spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef''. In the ...

'', and ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

''. Tramonto founded Cenitare Restaurants in 2006, opening several restaurants in a Wheeling, Illinois hotel, including Tramonto's Steak & Seafood (now closed), Osteria di Tramonto (now closed) and RT Lounge (now closed). He left the company in 2009. Tramonto left Tru in 2010.

Works

* ''Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs'' * ''American Brasserie'' * ''Amuse-Bouche'' * ''Tru'' * ''Fantastico! '' * ''Steak with Friends" *"Scars of a Chef" On July 30, 2006, he and Gale Gand appeared on '' Iron Chef: America'', losing to Mario Batali (53 - 46) In 2010, appeared on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

's ''

'' Season 2. He was eliminated in the fourth episode of the season.

External links

*
Restaurant R'evolution, New Orleans
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tramonto, Rick 1963 births Living people Writers from Chicago Chefs from Chicago American male chefs James Beard Foundation Award winners American cookbook writers American male non-fiction writers Writers from Rochester, New York Chefs from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers