Dennis Leary (chef)

Dennis Leary is a restaurateur and chef based in San Francisco, California. Leary owns and operates six food and beverage businesses in the San Francisco area, along with a forty-acre farm in Capay Valley called Andromeda Farm.^[1] The six restaurants include Rx, Café Terminus, Natoma Cabana, Golden West, House of Shields, and the Sentinel.^[2]

Early life

Dennis Leary began his professional culinary career at the age of 14 as a dishwasher at The Red Lion Inn in his hometown of Cohasset, Massachusetts.^[3] By the time he graduated high school he had moved on to become a line cook.^[4]

Leary attended Wheaton College (Massachusetts) and studied English literature. At Wheaton College (Massachusetts), he joined and graduated from the fraternity Phi Beta Kappa. While attending college, he worked at both Kimball's, also in Cohasset, and at the Parker House Hotel in Boston.^[5]

After college, Leary moved on to line cook positions at the Boulders Resort in Scottsdale and at the Carmel Valley Ranch in California.^[6] It was then that Leary met Alain Rondelli, who hired him to work as pastry chef at his restaurant in San Francisco. A year later Dennis started at Drew Nieporent’s Rubicon as sous chef and became executive chef, joining the list of acclaimed chefs who held the position.^[7] Rubicon is regarded as one of the most influential and career-launching restaurants in San Francisco during its 14 year run in the city.^[8] Leary served as Executive Chef for six years before moving on to start his own restaurant.^[9]

Career

In 2005, Dennis Leary started his own restaurant and bar called Canteen, as the sole chef and owner.^[10] The Canteen was an intimate 20-seat restaurant in the Commodore Hotel where Leary prepared nearly every dish in the restaurant.^[11]

Dennis Leary partnered with Eric Passetti and opened The Sentinel, a sandwich shop downtown San Francisco in 2008.^[12] The Sentinel quickly became a favorite sandwich spot, famed for its Corned Beef sandwich with Russian Dressing.^[13] They also united to open The Golden West, which serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays.^[14]

During 2009, Leary and Passetti joined the bar business and opened House of Shields in SoMa.^[15] The House of Shields has been in existence since 1908. Leary has always loved the location, and took six months after taking over the lease to refurbish the space, fixing vintage light fixtures, statues, and floors ^[16]. The bar itself has a rich history, with legendary tales that it served as a speakeasy during Prohibition, has a secret passageway that connected it to the nearby Palace Hotel, and was a frequent hangout of former President Warren Harding^[17]. To keep tradition with the bar's old-school nature, the bar has no clock on premises, nor a T.V. The cocktail concept is classic and high-quality, without a focus on mixology trends or cheeky drink names.^[18] It's home to a bustling after-work crowd during weekday evenings, often sipping on classic cocktails like Manhattans, Martinis, and Moscow Mules.

Throughout 2013 and 2014, Dennis Leary and Passetti opened up two restaurants in the San Francisco area, Terminus and the Trocadero Club (reopened as RxBar). Terminus serves breakfast and lunch, and provides a catering service. Leary received the title of Empire Builder of the Year at the 2013 Eater Awards, with his partner Eric Passetti.

In July 16, 2014, Leary opened up Natoma Cabana with partner Eric Passetti on Natoma St. Natoma Cabana is set in a former blacksmith’s shop. The interior of the bar dates back to 1913.^[19] Leary commissioned local graffiti artist, Ian Ross, to design the front of Natoma Cabana.^[20] The large space is decorated with lush tropical foliage and lounge chairs, creating a not-of-this-city atmosphere that references warmer climates. Cocktails include the Caribbean Zone (white rum, passion fruit gum, and lemon), the Whiskey Vic (a take on the Trader Vic's mai tai, made with whiskey), and the Floridian (dark rum, lime, and cane sugar). It also serves as a popular space for private event rentals.

Dennis Leary reopened the location of Trocadero Club as RX in November 2014. Rx is a craft cocktail bar in the Tenderloin. The name comes from the prohibition era, when a doctor’s prescription was one’s only way to legally access liquor.^[21]

Personal life

Dennis Leary owns a forty-acre parcel in Capay Valley called Andromeda Farm, and works on it on the weekends. The farm produces vegetables that can be found at Leary's establishments.

Awards

2001 - Rising Star Chef SF Chron

2005 - 10 best New Restaurants SF Chron

2009 - 50 best restaurants in US 2009: Bon Appetit

2013 – Eater Awards: Empire Builder

2014 – Eater Awards: Empire Builder^[22]

External links

1. San Francisco Magazine | Modern Luxury | It's Not a Bar, It's a "Box Where People Drink"

2. San Francisco Magazine | Modern Luxury | The 2014 Best Chef Awards

3. Eater SF - Dennis Leary

4. San Francisco Rising Stars Revue: Dennis Leary Biography on StarChefs.com

5. KQED Radio | Chef Dennis Leary: One New Farm, Two New Restaurants : Bay Area Bites

6. Grub Street | Canteen Chef Dennis Leary Explains Why There Are So Many Books In His Restaurant

7. Rising Star Chef Dennis Leary - Biography | StarChefs.com

8. Chef's Counter Culture | Food & Wine

9.- Eater SF - Town Hall, Salt House Folks Opening a FiDi Coffee Bar

10. SF Gate | Dennis Leary: Everyman chef with an Interceptor

11. Dennis Leary - Farm to City Restaurateur

12. SFist | The 12 Best New Bars of 2014

13. SF Gate | Rx bar in SF: Well-crafted cocktails for the bar-stool set

14. With Patience and Cunning, An Entrepreneur Snags one of San Francisco's Legendary Bars

References