Michael Romano

The Path

Michael Romano trained at Union Square Hospitality Group and the New York City Technical College culinary program, building his foundation with the discipline and structure that would later define his leadership. That early training helped prepare him for the demanding rhythm of professional kitchens, where precision, timing, and teamwork can determine not just the success of a service, but the identity of a place. From there, his path carried him into the layered pace of La Caravelle and then to Union Square Cafe, where his work would deepen into something more lasting than a single menu or season. At each step, Romano’s trajectory suggests a chef drawn not merely to technique, but to the larger architecture of hospitality: the steady coordination of people, product, and purpose.

The Work Today

Romano is a partner at Union Square Hospitality Group in New York City, and his name remains tied to New American cuisine at Union Square Cafe, the restaurant that shaped much of his career. Even now, that association carries weight because it speaks to continuity. The restaurant was not just a stage for his cooking; it was the central setting in which his sensibility took form. His view of the craft is distilled in his own words: "Most important thing I learned—put the pursuit of excellence above all else: the rest will follow." In that sentence, Romano captures a philosophy that values discipline over display, and long-term integrity over momentary applause.

In Their Words “That intangible yet palpable sense of house pride that comes when a great team of people is working together with a single-minded goal of excellence.” “Most important thing I learned—put the pursuit of excellence above all else: the rest will follow.”

Acclaim

Michael Romano has received James Beard Award, Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America. Romano’s tenure matters as much as any single title. He served as executive chef at Union Square Cafe while also serving in a leadership role that extended through 2013 at the group. His career moved from La Caravelle to a long stewardship of one kitchen and a broader culinary brief. That arc gives his résumé a particular kind of resonance: not the flash of constant reinvention, but the deeper authority that comes from helping define a restaurant’s standards over time. In that sense, Romano’s acclaim rests in duration, in consistency, and in the enduring imprint of his work at Union Square Cafe.