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Gale Gand (born 1956 in Deerfield, Illinois) is an acclaimed pastry chef, cookbook author, and host of the Food Network show: Sweet Dreams[1]. She is currently the executive pastry chef and a partner at Tru in Chicago, and also a consulting pastry chef and partner at four restaurants located in the Westin Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois. In 2001, Gand was named Outstanding Pastry Chef by the James Beard Foundation.

Biography

A native of Chicago, Gand studied silver and goldsmithing at Cleveland Institute of Art and Rochester Institute of Technology . When she took a year off and went to work in a restaurant, she discovered that the skills she had learned in art translated well to cuisine. She started her own catering company and also worked three years at the Strathallen Hotel in Rochester, NY. There she met culinary partner Rick Tramonto.

During that time, Gand traveled twice to Europe for pastry classes at La Varenne in Paris and worked in a number of bakeries and restaurants throughout France. In 1985, Gand moved to New York City where she cooked at Jam's with Jonathan Waxman. Later, she moved to The Gotham Bar & Grill with Alfred Portale where her desserts were awarded three stars by The New York Times critic Bryan Miller.

Feeling homesick for Chicago, Gand moved back to the city in 1987 and worked at Carlos. That same year, she won first place in the Heart Healthy Desserts Competition from the Chicago Heart Association and became pastry chef at the Pump Room. She opened several restaurants, including Bella Luna, at which time William Rice of the Chicago Tribune, dubbed her the "Dessert Diva."

While pastry chef at Bice, Gand was referred by Rich Melman (Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises) to Bob Payton who operated 14 American-style restaurants in London and 17 other venues across Europe. Payton asked Tramonto and Gand to transform the kitchen and cuisine at Stapleford Park, a five-star hotel in Leicestershire, 90 minutes from London, and they accepted the opportunity to live and work in England, France and Spain. Stapleford Park received acclaim from some of London's toughest reviewers. Fay Maschler of the London Evening Standard called Gand's ice creams "the best that I have tasted in Britain." Perhaps the greatest acknowledgment of their talents was receiving the red "M" in the 1991 Michelin guide, the first received by an American in five years.

Upon returning to Chicago in 1993, Gand worked at four-star Charlie Trotter's before joining Tramonto and Henry Adaniya to open Trio, earning the Chicago Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel’s first four-star rating in six years. Tramonto and Gand left Trio in 1995 after opening the popular Brasserie T. In 1996 they opened Vanilla Bean Bakery, which they sold a year and a half later in preparation for the opening of their fine-dining restaurant Tru with partner Rich Melman. In 2001 they closed Brasserie T to fully focus on Tru.

In 1994, Gand received the Robert Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence and she and her culinary partner Rick Tramonto were named among the Top Ten Best New Chefs by Food & Wine.[2] She was named top pastry chef of the year in Bon Appetit’s annual Best of the Best awards in 2001. Gand and Tramonto were nominated for the 1998 James Beard Awards for Best Chefs in the Midwest and also nominated for the 2000 James Beard Awards with Tru for the Best New Restaurant. Further recognition by the James Beard Foundation include Gand’s Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2001 and most recently Outstanding Service for Tru in 2007. Tru was also honored with the 2004 Wine Spectator Grand Award, and Best Restaurant in Chicago Magazine’s 2004 Dining Awards, with Gand being named Best Pastry Chef.

In 2006, Tramonto and Gand opened four new locations inside the Westin Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois: Osteria di Tramonto, Tramonto Steak and Seafood, RT Lounge, and Gale's Coffee Bar.

Gand's first cookbook, “American Brasserie”, written with Rick Tramonto and Julia Moskin, was published in October 1997 and named as a finalist in the Julia Child Cookbook Awards with the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Gand’s second book, “Butter Sugar Flour Eggs”, published by Clarkson Potter, was released in October 1999 and received a James Beard nomination for Best Cookbook in the Baking and Desserts category and was a featured title for the Book of the Month Club. Her third book, “Gale Gand’s Just a Bite” was released in October 2001, “Gale Gand’s Short + Sweet” hit the shelves in early 2004 and “Tru: A Cookbook from the Legendary Chicago Restaurant”, written with culinary partner Tramonto, was also published in November 2004. Gand’s next cookbook “Chocolate and Vanilla”, was released in autumn 2006.

Trivia

A photograph of a 6-year old Gand, making mudpies, appeared in a November 1962 issue of Life Magazine.

Gand appeared with Julia Child on the 1995 PBS program Cooking with Julia.

Gand bottles her own brand of root beer, Gale's.

In 2006, Gand and Tramonto appeared on the Food Network's Iron Chef America program, losing to Mario Batali, using fennel as the surprise ingredient.

Cookbooks

• American Brassiere, with Rick Tramonto and Julia Moskin, 1997
• Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs, with Rick Tramonto and Julia Moskin, 1999
• Just a Bite, with Rick Tramonto and Julia Moskin, 2001
• Short and Sweet, with Julia Moskin- 2004
• Tru: A Cookbook from the Legendary Chicago Restaurant, with Rick Tramonto and Mary Goodbody, 2004
• Chocolate and Vanilla, with Lisa Weiss, 2006

References

{{Primarysources|Article|date=May 2007}} [[Category:Chefs]]