Tru Restaurant Executive Chef Anthony Martin
March 4th, 2012
Accumulating four-stars and being named Chef of the Year (2011) by Chicago Tribune marked Anthony Martin’s first year as executive chef/partner at renowned Progressive French restaurant Tru. His presentations, described by Phil Vettel as “so visually stunning that it seems crude to disturb their perfection for something so prosaic as eating,” have caught Chicago’s attention, with flavor combinations further described by Vettel as “maddeningly subtle, driving over-analytical foodies to despair.” Since then, Martin has been named a Rising Star by Restaurant & Hospitality and has been covered extensively by the media.
Martin’s first and fondest memory of cooking was helping his great-grandmother and mother bake during the Christmas season in his native Ohio. With a talent for drawing and painting, however, and after receiving several art scholarship offers, he poised himself to enroll in art school. The desire to cook was too strong, however, and he soon joined the Pennsylvania Culinary School in order to channel his innate creativity into a culinary career.
After graduation, Martin landed his first professional kitchen job at the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland. Next, he headed south to Atlanta where he worked for chef Gunter Seeger at his namesake restaurant, where he worked his way up to sous chef. Four years later, opportunity came knocking from the direction of Las Vegas, where he lent his skills to Alex Stratta’s opening team at Alex in the Wynn Resort and Casino. Soon after he secured the executive sous chef position opening the celebrated restaurant Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand, which was awarded Three Michelin Stars. Finally, in 2008, Martin brought his considerable experience to Chicago to work at Tru, overseeing savory and pastry at the renowned destination.
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