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Who

One of New York's culinary giants during the 1990s, Kunz is the acclaimed chef who presided over Café Gray in the Time Warner Center until June 2008.

Backstory

Singapore-born Kunz moved to Switzerland at age 5. As a young cook in Bern, he apprenticed at the down-market Bahnhof Buffet and toiled in various Swiss hotel kitchens before winning a gig under Swiss legend Frédy Girardet and training with him for half a decade. Kunz then moved to Hong Kong, where he mastered Chinese cooking at the Regent Hotel. In 1989, he arrived in New York after he was named executive chef at the Peninsula Hotel; he was later wooed to Lespinasse, the now-shuttered temple of haute cuisine at the St. Regis. At Lespinasse Kunz wowed the city's fine-dining crowd, earning effusive praise from Ruth Reichl and her first four-star designation. But after nine years Kunz grew bored, and he left in 1998.

There was a good deal of discussion among foodies about where Kunz would resurface. But after a deal to open a new eatery at the Lever House fizzled, he largely fell off the map and his career floundered for nearly five years. Finally, in 2003, he reemerged with Café Gray, a casual David Rockwell-designed spot located in the Time Warner Center. In 2007—after years of delays—he added a second venue to his portfolio with Grayz on West 54th Street.

Of note

Café Gray was something of a rarity at the Time Warner Center in that it was relatively inexpensive compared to the other venues in the glass towers. (Entrees averaged $33—by no means cheap, but nowhere near as wallet-damaging as the $62 piece of toro at Masa Takayama's sushi spot upstairs). Kunz didn't attempt to produce the haute cuisine at Café Gray that made him famous at Lespinasse, although the eatery was generally well-received: Frank Bruni called it "a pleasure-packed testament to Mr. Kunz's nimbleness of imagination and execution" in his two-star review. (The spot was also notable for its bizarre layout, which granted the kitchen staff, not diners, the master-of-the-universe view of Central Park.) In June 2007, Café Gray closed its doors. But Kunz is said to be in discussions to open a new restaurant in Midtown in the near future.

In person

Don't expect hugs and kisses from Kunz. True to his Swiss nature, he has a reputation for being reserved, quiet, unnervingly focused, and an intense perfectionist.

True story

In 1997, a hostess at Lespinasse filed a sexual harassment complaint against a maitre d' at the restaurant. Kunz then inexplicably fired the hostess, which led to a walkout by restaurant workers (and the hotel's rehiring her the next day). Kunz took a three-week break to "cool off" after the incident.

Personal

Kunz lives in a Cobble Hill townhouse with his wife Nicole and their two cats. They also have a weekend home in Dutchess County.