Don Pintabona: taxi driver becomes De Niro's chef

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 23, 1998 by Ellen Koteff

Don Pintabona has let his culinary talents take him around the world and back home again. His streetwise, down-to-earth persona makes him as comfortable in the company of film star and Tribeca Grill investor Robert De Niro as he is with a vegetable vendor. As executive chef at Tribeca Grill since the beginning of its time in the Big Apple, Pintabona has made a name for himself and helped put the trendy Manhattan eatery on the nation's culinary map. The restaurant, which does 10,000 to 12,000 covers per month, is the highest-grossing restaurant in the Myriad Restaurant Group. But Pintabona's journey has been hard fought, to say the least. He worked his way through The Culinary Institute of American by driving a cab in New York City, where he had both a gun and a knife pointed at his head, and finally gave up hacking after a passenger wrapped a wire around his neck in a failed strangulation attempt. Things have settled down somewhat for Pintabona but not entirely, as he was recently shot at in New York's Holland Tunnel on the way home from work in the wee hours of the morning. Pintabona says it's his face more than anything else that gets him into trouble. "I'm Italian, but I'm always mistaken for whatever the most-hated faction of the moment is."

Title: Executive chef, Tribeca Grill, New York City. Birth date: Oct. 14, 1959. Hometown: Oceanside, N.Y. Education: A.O.S. degree from The Culinary Institute of America. Career highlights: Spending a year in a three-star restaurant in France; working as a sous chef in Osaka, Japan, for a year; working with chefs Daniel Boulud and Charlie Palmer.

What is it like to be so closely associated with one restaurant for seven years?

In this industry seven years is a long time in one place. My MO through the 1980s was just the opposite. I'd work really hard at one place for a year, and then I'd travel the world for six months. Whenever I got $10,000 in the bank, I'd take off again.

Are you comfortable now being settled in New York City? It's that old love-hate thing. When you re here, you're miserable; but when you're gone, you really miss it. If you asked me 10 years ago, I never would have predicted I'd end up settling in New York. Over the years I traveled to almost 30 countries and really had the wanderlust. There's a portable aspect to being a chef; you can take your show on the road. That's one of the things I love about this business.

How has traveling to more than 30 countries helped your cooking?

Travel is such a big part of growing as a chef. Fusion cuisine without the travel is like a pitcher without a catcher. I rarely do food if I haven't bee to a country. I need to know the whys of food.

Do you have a particular kind of food you like to prepare?

Pate and charcuterie. It's an art in itself. I like making something where you have to wait a day.

How did you get hooked up with Drew Nieporent [Myriad's president]?

The first time I met Drew was when I went to Montrachet for dinner, and he spit out my entire resume. He knows everyone and everything. He knew all about my background. He's got an amazing mind, really incredible.

What makes Tribeca Grill unique?

This restaurant is such a great blend. We have a lot of local customers and a lot of tourists. Our business is so steady. In the summer we fill up with tourists, and we're doing more business now than we ever have. One of the reasons I took this position was that I wanted to break the reputation of a celebrity-owned restaurant. I tried to establish a casual, upscale restaurant without all the pretension usually associated with a celebrity restaurant. We try to do the most professional job we can do.

When was the first time you met Robert De Niro?

Drew approached me on a Tuesday, and I had a flight out on Friday to Bangkok. I had planned on taking a three-month trip to Thailand. That Thursday I met De Niro in a bar uptown. We spoke for about an hour, and we mostly talked about Thailand.

Do any of the celebrity owners ever come into the kitchen?

Sometimes. Bill Murray is an investor, and he comes into the kitchen for hours. One Saturday night he came in with Michael Jordan and Dan Aykroyd. It breaks up the monotony, and it makes it a lot more exciting for the cooks.

Have you ever been overwhelmed by a celebrity event?

We did a party for Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress right after Mandela was released from prison. There was so much security. There were dogs in the kitchen sniffing the food and sharpshooters at every comer. I guess that event was the most nerve-racking.

What do you find the most stressful about what you do?

The work itself can be stressful, but I'm always worried because a food critic could be just around the corner. When I wake up on one of the few days that Tribeca Grill is closed during the year, I don't feel any stress because I know a food critic won't be coming in that day. The machine is always moving.

But, overall you've received high praise from the critics?

We've been very fortunate, but you're always on a 24-hour alert for the critics. If I had one comment on critics, it would be that food critics in Japan are much more specialized. If someone in Japan is critiquing Italian food, then they've spent 10 years in Italy. They have a specialty. In New York it's very different. A food writer can be reviewing a different kind of cuisine every week. I can't imagine being a critic, and I have a lot of respect for those who do it.