Who

Romano is the chef and co-owner of the prodigiously popular Union Square Café.

Backstory

East Harlem native Michael Romano started off his dining career rather inauspiciously: as the frozen drinks guy at Serendipity. A pep talk from cooking guru James Beard steered him away from a life of Frrrozen Mochaccinos and to culinary school instead. Romano went on to spend time in Europe training with legendary French chef Michel Guérard, before returning to New York in the 1980s to become the first American chef de cuisine at the much-acclaimed French eatery La Caravelle. In 1988, Danny Meyer hired him away to Union Square Café, which landed its first three-star rating from the Times soon after, sparking the mega-popularity that has since become its hallmark. Since then, Romano and Meyer have capitalized on the restaurant's rep with two books—The Union Square Cafe Cookbook in 1994 and 2001's Second Helpings from Union Square—and in 2007, they branched out with a Union Square Tokyo.

Of note

While Romano's accessible, Italian-tinged New American cuisine has long been a hit with the masses, Union Square Café is partly popular precisely because of its popularity—the restaurant has alternated between spots one and two on Zagat's "Most Popular List" every year since 1997. (The restaurant it usually vies with for the top position is another Danny Meyer creation, Gramercy Tavern.) Still, Romano has kept a fairly low profile, preferring to remain in the kitchen and out of the spotlight, unlike many of New York's other A-list chefs, not to mention Danny Meyer.

Personal

Romano's first marriage, to a dancer at the New York City Ballet, ended in divorce in 1984. He lives in a townhouse in the East 30s and also has a place in East Hampton, which boasts a 700-bottle wine cellar. His two residences house his collections of pocketknives, fountain pens, bicycles, and fedoras.

No joke

For a short time, Romano ran the decidedly cramped kitchen of the Orient Express, the storied train line.