Michael Lomonaco
Michael Lomonaco is an American chef, restaranteur and television personality. He is best known as the Chef/Director for Windows on the World, the restaurant located atop the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The restaurant was destroyed in the September 11th attacks and many staff members, who were working at the time, died.
LeCirque and 21
Lomonaco started his culinary education at New York City Technical College's Hotel and Restaurant Management program, graduating in 1984. He quickly rose to fame during the 1980s at New York's famed restaurant Le Cirque, working under renown chefs Alain Sailhac and Daniel Boulud. Later that decade, Lomonaco moved on the another legendary New York institution, 21 Club. He revitalized the restaurant, known for its storied history as a Prohibition-era speakeasy and celebrity patrons, by revamping the menu by eliminating some old the Continental standbys in favor of updated American fare. Lomonaco remained at 21 until 1996. While at the restaurant, he published a book of recipes from the restaurant.
Windows on the World
In 1997, Lomonaco took on the task of Executive Chef/Director for Windows on the World, located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. Again, he updated the menu from traditional French to modern American cuisine with great success. In response, the restaurant became one of America's highest grossing restaurants three years in a row.[1] As executive director, Lomonaco was responsible for the main dining room, with its stunning views of the New York skyline, and the Greatest Bar on Earth, which featured the southernly sights of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Newest ventures
Reeling from the shock of September 11th, the loss of his restaurant, staff and friends, LoMonaco created Noche, multi-story, midtown restaurant and nightclub highlighting the cuisines of Latin America and the Caribbean. Many former employees of Windows on the World followed Lomonaco to this new venue, when it debuted in 2002. Unfortunately, the success was short-lived and Noche announced its closing in late 2004.
In 2006, Lomonaco opened Porter House New York, an American grill in newly-opened Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle.<ref>http://www.zagat.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?SCID=38&BLGID=1380<ref>