Michael Lomonaco

Celebrity chef speaker Michael Lomonaco is the epitome of American cuisine. Chef Lomonaco is a television personality, cookbook author, and restaurateur most well known for being the Executive Chef for the famous Windows of the World restaurant which was located in the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. During his time working at Windows, Lomonaco received critical acclaim for his American cuisine menu and the restaurant rapidly became one of the highest grossing and most beloved in America. Chef Michael would have been in the restaurant during the attack on the North Tower on September 11, 2001 had he not stopped to get his glasses fixed in the lobby. After that terrible day, Chef Lomonaco co-founded the Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund to help the families of the restaurant employees lost in the attacks. To this day, he continues to support causes associated with 9/11 as well as others including Share Our Strength, March of Dimes, and City Harvest.

Chef Michael Lomonaco has worked for some of the most famous restaurants for the most prominent chefs in the country throughout his thirty year culinary career, including his position at New York’s renowned restaurant, Le Cirque, where he trained under master chefs Alain Sailhac and Daniel Boulud. Following the tragedy of the September 11^th attacks, Lomonaco opened his American grill, Porter House New York, located at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle joining famous celebrity chefs and restaurateurs Marc Murphy, Thomas Keller, and Masa Takayama whose restaurants are also located in the building.

Lomonaco’s television career includes hosting his own show, Michael’s Place, which aired on Food Network for five years and hosting the Travel Channel’s much-admired food program, Epicurious. Michael has also made numerous guest appearances on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, and PBS’s In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs. In his cookbook, The 21 Cookbook, Chef Michael shares 150+ world-famous recipes. He is also a contributor to publications such as The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, and Travel & Leisure magazine.