Star Chef Charlie Palmer

Charlie Palmer is the chef-owner of Aureole, Alva, Lenox Room, Metrazur, and Astra in New York City and Aureole Las Vegas (in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino) and Charlie Palmer Steak (in the Four Seasons Hotel) in Las Vegas. 

He has been awarded the 1998 James Beard Award for the "Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America," the 1997 James Beard "Best Chef" in New York, and the 1996 Restaurants & Institutions "Ivy" Award. 

Charlie lives in New York City with his wife, Lisa, and four sons. Judith Choate is an award-winning writer, chef, and pioneer in the promotion of American food. A member of Women's Chefs and Restaurateurs, she is the author of sixteen cookbooks and the co-author of a great many more. Chef, Author and Restaurateur One of the most highly regarded chefs in America today, Charlie Palmer has received critical acclaim for his signature Progressive American cuisine, a style which reinterprets classic European cooking using American artisanal products and small farm producers. 

Beginning with the opening of Aureole in 1988, Charlie has combined his creative cooking spirit with his flair for business to establish an impressive roster of restaurants across the country --- Aureole, Alva, and Metrazur in New York City; Aureole at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and Charlie Palmer Steak at The Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, and Dry Creek Kitchen, located in the Palmer-owned boutique Hotel Healdsburg in Sonoma, California. 

In addition, Charlie owns and operates Astra, a cafe by day and impressive catering location at night and weekends in midtown Manhattan, Astra West and the Lounge at Astra, a 40,000 square foot catering venue in Los Angeles which opened in early 2002, and a line of specialty food products. 

Born and raised in upstate New York and classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Charlie Palmer first burst onto the New York dining scene in the mid-1980's when he was named executive chef at The River Cafe. He soon earned a prestigious three stars from The New York Times. It was also at The River Cafe that Palmer hired, trained and inspired a legion of young cooks who have gone on to be some of America's leading chefs from Gerry Hayden, the Executive Chef at Aureole restaurant, to Diane Forley of Verbena and Michael Mina of Aqua in San Francisco. 

At the young age of 28, Charlie opened Aureole restaurant as chef and proprietor. It was at Aureole that his signature style began to emerge. I realized that American cuisine was just in its infancy and I spent a lot of time thinking about what the idea of American cooking really meant to me as a chef, states Palmer. My experience growing up on a farm and my time spent at Georges Blanc in France where one artisanal producer would bring all of his perfectly made goat cheese to the doorstep of our kitchen had a strong impact on me. 

So I began to research my own small American producers and support them in an effort to use the best raw products at Aureole. It inspired my creative juices and helped to mold my style. 

And today, Palmer's creativity is sparked by working with his team of cooks at all of his locations. My juices really get flowing when I talk to one of our chefs about new products or a trip one of us took. We play at coming up with pages and pages of new dishes. And right now, I cook more than ever. There's nothing like jumping behind the line and cooking with the new guy on the fish station for three hours for establishing a good rapport and having him learn to cook to the standards of my palate. 

Charlie Palmer is the author of two cookbooks, Great American Food, published by Random House in 1996 and Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking, published by Harper Collins in 2001, and is a founding chef of Impromptu Gourmet, a line of chef-designed, prepare-at-home dinner kits. 

Charlie is also a frequent guest on the TODAY Show. 1998 James Beard Award "Whobs Who of Food & Beverage in America" 1997 James Beard Award "Best Chef" New York 1997 Relais & Chateaux the prestigious association of quality hotels and restaurants inducted Aureole as a new member. Aureole joins only a handful of other U.S. restaurants invited to be members, 2001 Wine Spectator Grand Award-Aureole New York