Meet the Chef: Jeff Abate of Piatto Grill

Some chefs travel the globe in search of ancient flavor profiles and techniques – mysterious yet subtle culinary complexities to satiate and stun the droves of diners drooling for a bite of Tuscany, Mendoza, Barcelona, or Lisbon.

However, Jeff Abate, a lifelong Westchester chef and resident who specializes in the cuisines of those regions, has never visited Europe or South America.

At 36 years old, the healthy and hearty Chef Abate is a master of taste buds, and his knowledge and tenacity in the kitchen stem from years of precise study, pouring over countless culinary books and learning from chefs who had the time to jet-set across the world.

Truthfully, Abate doesn't travel because he likes to work, spending his days juggling three restaurants and satisfying the many followers who come to his dining rooms.

And when he isn't perfecting the newest of his "Italian fusion" plates, the artful chef goes by another name – "Daddy."

Abate's two children, Jeffrey, 2, and Ashlyn, 5, and his wife, Amy, remain the focus of his life beyond the ovens and stovetops. While he may not be home to cook gourmet dinners for his family during restaurant hours, the chef makes a point to acknowledge his children's early interest in fine cuisine.

"Ashlyn loves to bake pies with me," Abate joked. "She's got a natural talent in the kitchen."

A Family Tradition

The science and method behind Jeff Abate's method was influenced in his mother's kitchen while growing up. 

"My father was Italian, and my mom was basically a mix of everything," he remembered. "I got a lot of influence from both of them, but my mom cooked dinner for us every night. It was something that I always took with me."

That inheritance stayed close to Abate as he worked his way through high school, learning the ropes at the former Chopping Block in Greenwich, CT. Although his interests in sports and art dominated his youthful days, by the time he reached the senior year, he had drawn a line between his passions and his obvious abilities with a knife and sauté pan.

Food requires a certain amount of precision and creativity, the chef said. That year, Jeff Abate enrolled in the famed Culinary Institute of America and set out to create his own masterpieces.

After completing his four-year program, Abate graduated in 1995 and entered into his first true apprenticeship in New York City with the renowned French master chef, Antoine Bouterin. Cooking under the watchful eye of Chef Bouterin taught him things about composure and elegance that could not be learned in school. These were themes that Abate would carry with him.

"A manager once told me one day after I had lost my temper, 'you've got to stay calm,'" he recalled. "'People won't respect you if you don't.' There are a lot of chefs out there – yelling and screaming and so forth – I like to remain even-keeled, calm under fire. People should enjoy themselves at work."

Armed with little more than his natural talent, a culinary degree, and the wisdom attained from one of the world's most prestigious chefs, Jeff Abate set off to create food that resembled his touchtone charisma and cool, unique yet classic, sumptuous yet subdued.

A Taste of Home

Rather than pursuing a career in New York City, the world's epicenter of everything new in cuisine, Chef Abate returned back to Westchester. The suburban yet slightly rural county just north of the city provided a wealth of local food sources, and the clientele of Westchester seemed to show more support and loyalty for the chefs and restaurants they loved. These were reasons for the young chef to return to the place he knew best, he said.

"Westchester is an amazing place," Abate said. "In New York City, good restaurants are a dime a dozen. But here there is a real chance to develop a local following. On the one hand we're so close to the Hudson Valley and its local produce and on the other there's the Bronx with its fish markets. I go down there and the clams were literally in New Zealand the day before."

Going straight to the source serves his dishes well. Chef Abate has succeeded in developing a style he calls "Italian fusion," playing on the 80's Asian-style moniker. The dishes at his restaurants combine a quintessential Italian flavor palate with the style and panache of the Iberian Peninsula, Persia, and Argentina.

"I'm a big believer in simple dishes that carry a lot of character," Abate said. "Fresh ingredients, classic flavors. Ultimately, there are only so many ways to cook."

Since partnering with the acclaimed Westchester restaurateur Par Shakiban in 2001, Chef Abate has been at the helm of three of Shakiban's restaurants – Eclisse in Stamford, Piatto Grill (formerly Miraggio) in Yorktown Heights, and Laguna in White Plains.

In 2002, Abate took on the operations at Laguna. From there he also assumed responsibility at Shakiban's other establishments, Eclisse and Miraggio. After several years, Laguna was sold and Miraggio underwent a series of renovations, eventually reopening in 2008 as the luxe Piatto Grill.

Nowadays, Chef Abate is preparing to launch his newest venture with Mr. Shakiban – Eclisse in White Plains (formerly Laguna). While he continues to be a wonderful father and caring husband, Chef Abate is no stranger to long days and longer nights.

"It's so exciting to oversee multiple units," he said. "As an executive chef, you kind of have to be a plumber, a carpenter, and a refrigerator repair man as well, just to make sure things go smoothly."

So somewhere between fixing a walk-in cooler and overseeing the construction of his new restaurant, Chef Jeff Abate manages to find time to create spectacular food – the essence of innovative world cuisine.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for coating
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 4 pounds beef short ribs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup stewed tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 onions, chopped
• 6 carrots, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons beef stock

Directions

• 1. In a bowl, combine the 1/2 cup flour, salt and ground black pepper. Roll the ribs in the seasoned flour.
• 2. In a large pot, heat the oil and brown the ribs well on all sides. Pour in 1 cup boiling water, tomatoes, and garlic. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, adding more water if necessary.
• 3. Place the potatoes, onions, and carrots in the pot. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until all vegetables are tender. Remove the meat and vegetables to a serving platter.
• 4. In a separate small bowl, dissolve 1 1/2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons water for every one cup liquid remaining in the pot. Add this to the pot and stir well until thickened. Pour over meat and vegetables.

"I like to serve short ribs with some creamy polenta and crumbled gorgonzola. Talk about dying and going to heaven!" – Chef Jeff Abate