Three-time James Beard Award Winning chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Alfred Portale will unveil his new restaurant Portale this Fall in New York City.
Located at 126 W. 18th Street in Manhattan, this exciting new addition to the Chelsea neighborhood marks Alfred Portale’s first solo venture since he joined Gotham Bar & Grill as Executive Chef in 1985. Shifting away from fine dining, Portale restaurant will be a fun, spirited and beautiful space featuring a contemporary Italian menu with a nod to Chef’s classically trained French technique which earned him five three-star New York Times reviews and a long standing Michelin star.
The kitchen will feature an in-house milling program to create its own flour for house-made bread, polenta and pasta, and the menu will include an abundance of market vegetables, crudo, seasonal salads and grilled meats and fish. Chefs Jacinto Guadarrama and Adam Longworth have joined Alfred at Portale as Co-Chefs de Cuisine.
Total Food Service caught up with Alfred Portale to get a glimpse into his thoughts on the evolution of the dining world from social media to NYC neighborhoods, to the origins of his new restaurant.
What led to the deal that is making the new restaurant a reality?
I am of Italian descent – Sicily to be more exact, and I have always wanted to do an Italian restaurant. Years ago while I was cooking in the south of France, I developed a loose concept, and I felt that now was the perfect time to flush it out and make it into a reality.
I just heard on the radio that 10,000 “Baby Boomers” a day are retiring but you are gearing up for a new project. Why did you want to restart now?
Well I don’t listen to the radio (haha), and I don’t feel that I am “restarting” with the opening of Portale. This restaurant is just another chapter in my culinary career.
How have the needs of the dining public evolved and what is your read on what the Portale customer is looking for?
I believe that people are generally looking for less formal dining experiences. Somewhere where the food is elevated, yet the atmosphere is down to earth. People have also become a lot more conscious of what they are eating and where it comes from. The menu at Portale reflects this by being vegetable forward, with a lot of grains, simply grilled seafood and superfoods. We are also predominantly using ingredients that are locally sourced.
I remember watching you work 20 plus years ago for a story we were doing. I’ll bet you never thought about having to create something so that someone could take a picture of it with a phone? How has this world of social media changed what you do and how you do it?
The form of PR that existed 20 years ago is vastly different from what it is today. In this day and age, you simply can not ignore the importance and power of social media. In terms of changing what I do — I don’t need to. I have many accolades that call attention to the creative plating and presentation of my dishes, and those were awarded before the notion that anyone with a smartphone can be a food photographer.
You have always given tirelessly of your time to every charity under the sun. What are your thoughts on “giving back”?
It is very true that chefs are involved in a lot of charitable causes. While I have given back to a number of different charities over the years, I now find that I tend to focus on charities with a commitment to feeding those in need. I am currently a member of the City Harvest food council and also actively support City Meals on Wheels and Share Our Strength among others.
As you look at how Manhattan and Brooklyn have evolved. What’s your read on the importance of location to the success of the new Portale restaurant and for that matter any new restaurant?
People have always said location, location, location, but at the same time, there are tons of restaurants that have flourished in locations that have not always been viewed as ideal. If the concept is dependent on location — lots of foot traffic — then it becomes more critical, but that is not the case for Portale. I believe Portale will be a destination restaurant, drawing in diners regardless of location. That being said, we also want to be thought of as a neighborhood spot, and having a location that can pull from both the Flatiron and Chelsea community doesn’t hurt.
What are your thoughts on the “next generation” of chefs that you will have the opportunity to mentor and grow at Portale? Are you a CIA/Johnson and Wales fan?
I am a graduate of the CIA and have respect for it and similar institutions. Working with individuals who have graduated from culinary school is definitely a plus, but school does not replace getting really good hands on experience.
What’s your approach to building a team to make the new restaurant a success?
While experience is important, in some cases, what is more important is attitude, professionalism, and a true commitment to the craft – those things are almost impossible to teach. So if a candidate is lacking experience but has a good attitude, is professional, and displays a genuine desire to learn – I would hire that person. I can always teach them technical skills that are lacking.
What kept you from expanding in the past to places like Las Vegas or Atlantic City?
Early in my career my two daughters were still young, and it was important to me that I find the right balance between work and family life. Expanding outside of NYC would require longer workdays, lots of travel, and less time with my daughters, so I decided it wasn’t the right time for expansion. The right time presented itself in 2008 when I opened Gotham Steak in the Fountain Bleu, Miami. The original plan was to also open a second location in the Fountain Bleu, Las Vegas, however, due to the financial crisis, it never came to fruition.
You maintained a seasonal “page three” cuisine at Gotham Bar & Grill. Will Portale do the same?
At the beginning of my career, while cooking in California and introduced to Alice Waters, who is known for pioneering seasonally driven cuisine, I was incredible inspired by her philosophy. In one of her first cookbooks there is a guide that delineates which ingredients to use during each season, and I would reference it whenever I sat down to create a new dish. I actually ended up writing my own cookbook — Alfred Portale’s 12 Seasons Cookbook — devoted to cooking dishes that take into account ingredient availability and seasonality. Portale will have a menu that is inspired and driven by seasonality. Portale is also walking distance from the Union Square Farmer’s Market, and I plan on maintaining the relationships with its vendors that I have built over the years.
What new dishes can people expect at Portale?
I have created an entirely new modern Italian menu for Portale. It will feature a combination of dishes with a modern take on classic Italian preparations — ex. Piccata made with veal sweetbreads and a roasted parsnip purée — and in other cases more inventive dishes like foie gras tortellini. We are making all our pasta and bread in-house, and we are even milling our own polenta from heirloom blue corn.
When Portale succeeds, will you consider additional venues?
My absolute focus right now is with this location, but who knows what the future may hold.
All photos by Pat Dunford
