CHEF OF THE MONTH - Michael Schlow

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Before making Boston his home-away-from-home, Schlow trained in a handful of restaurants in the New York area. He devoted a great deal of his culinary career to developing his skills in classic Italian cooking. His career began with renowned New York restaurateur Pino Luongo where he immediately adopted a commitment to the elegance and simplicity of true Tuscan cooking. Chef Schlow went on to become the Chef de Cuisine at Manhattan hotspots, Coco Pazzo and Le Madri and eventually became Executive Chef at famed Long Island restaurant, Sapore di Mare. Chef Schlow continued to develop a commitment to proper technique and to the purity of Tuscan cooking at 75 Main, a restaurant and gourmet market in the Hamptons, adding Asian and French influences to his cooking.

In 1995, at the urging of long-time friend Christopher Meyers, Schlow moved to Boston, kicking and screaming, to reopen Café Louis. After a 3-year stint there, where Schlow garnered nearly every culinary distinction imaginable, including Boston Magazine's "Best New Chef in Boston" and Food and Wine's "Top 10 New Chefs in the Country," Schlow and Meyers turned the heat up on their larger plan.

Since opening Radius, Schlow's second joint venture with Meyers in Boston, the praise keeps coming. Featuring a very personal style of modern French cuisine, Radius has become one of the most popular and highly acclaimed restaurants to ever open in Boston. Radius was named one of the 50 best American restaurants in the September, 2001 issue of Gourmet and Best New Restaurant in 2000 by Food & Wine Magazine. The restaurant, described by one critic as "stylish, streamlined, and sophisticated," and was named "Top 50 Most Exciting Restaurants in the World" by Conde Nast Traveler.

Schlow and Meyers have now opened Via Matta, in Boston's Back Bay area, where Schlow can return to his first great love in the kitchen: Italian cuisine. Schlow says of his intentions behind the menu, "We want diners to experience the freshness and authenticity of Italian cuisine."

With his tight network of friends and co-workers and two acclaimed restaurants in the city of the Red Sox, Schlow grudgingly calls Westwood, MA his home, but remains a die-hard Yankees fan.