Dan Orr '85

Dan Orr ’85 says "respect" is the dominant ingredient his New York kitchen, as the executive chef of the 700-seat dining empire Guastavino's, Orr is responsible for ensuring that both front and back of the house operations run effectively without discord, rancor or disgruntled workers catering to the tastes of its fashionable clientele.  
 
Orr grew up in a small town in Indiana where his parents farmed, made their own breads, preserves and wines, and harvested the best from the land. After graduating from Johnson & Wales he traveled all around Europe sampling cuisines and refining this senses. Orr settled in France and Belgium long enough to master French and expand his own culinary horizons by apprenticing under masters in nine restaurants.
 
In 1992 he headed back to America and New York to eventually become executive chef at the acclaimed La Grenouille where his cooking won top stars and praises from Zagat’s which considered it "as perfect as haute cuisine can be." In 1999, marketing master Terence Conran tapped him to run what New York Magazine called "a 26,000-square-foot gastronomical playground under the Queensboro Bridge."
 
He now oversees a staff of close to 100 and serves 500 to 700 nightly between the 300-seat brasserie, Club Guastavino’s (named to Esquire magazines’ definitive list of 22 best new restaurants in America), on the first floor, the smaller, more formal Club Guastavino upstairs, and four rooms reserved for private parties. He recently published his first cookbook, "Daniel Orr Real Food: Smart and Simple Meals and Menus for Entertaining" and markets a line of spice blends for home use.