HARLEQUIN BIOGRAPHIES
Sanford D'Amato
Sanford
D'Amato graduated from the Culinary Institute of America
in 1974, and
stayed on for a
one year fellowship in the Escoffier
Room. He then worked in
various New York City restaurants
through the 70's.
In 1980, he returned home to Milwaukee's John Byron’s
Restaurant where he
received national attention in
1985 Food and Wine magazine as one of the top 25 "Hot
New Chefs",
and touted
as "One of the finest seafood chefs in the country"
in a
1988 Bon Appetit feature
article.
In 1988,
he was selected as one of 12 national finalists in
the American Culinary
Gold Cup, Bocuse D'or. He also competed in the 1988
and 1989 American
Seafood Challenge and received one of
two gold medals
awarded in 1989 and
took third place overall. In December of 1989, Sanford
and
his wife Angela opened Sanford Restaurant in the
former site of his father and grandfathers grocery
store.
It has since received accolades locally and nationally
in Food and Wine,
Bon Appetit,
Wine Spectator 1990 - 1999 Award of Excellence,
Milwaukee Magazine, Chicago Tribune, New York Times
and Esquire magazine
as one of 1990s' best new restaurants.
In November
of 1992, Sanford was one of 12 chefs in the nation
to be personally chosen by
Julia Child to cook for
her 80th Birthday Celebration in her hometown Boston.
Sanford has made television appearances on feature
programs such as
Dining Around on The TV Food Network, Great Chefs/Great
Cities and PBS
Julia Child Special, America’s Rising Star Chefs.
In 1994, Sanford Restaurant
was awarded the Fine Dining Hall of Fame award by
Nation's Restaurant News
and the DiRONA (Distinguished Restaurants of North
America) Award and are
1995 recipients of the
Ivy Award from Restaurants
and Institutions Magazine.
Sanford has also consistently received the
AAA - Four
Diamond Award and the
Four-Star award from Mobil Travel Guide and the highest
rating
for food (29) and service (29) given by the Zagat guide.
After
being nominated for six consecutive years by the James
Beard Foundation, Sanford won the Perrier Jouët Best
Chef Midwest award in April of 1996. In the October,
2001 issue of Gourmet magazine, Sanford Restaurant
was listed as
number twenty-one of the fifty best restaurants in
America. And in February 2002, Sanford was one of
45 chefs chosen nationally to cook for the Salt Lake
CityOlympics
– United States Art of the Table.
In February
of 1999, Sanford and Angela opened their second restaurant,
Coquette Cafe, in the
Historic Third Ward in Milwaukee.
Coquette has a local 3 ½ star rating. Sanford presently
writes a weekly food column, the Kitchen Technician,
for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sunday Edition
and cooks weekly on CBS’s “Always
in Good Taste” with Willard Romantini in a segment
called
‘Flash in the Pan’.
In October
of 2005, Sanford, Angela and Coquette Chef Andy Schneider
opened “Harlequin”, a sweet and savory bake shop in
the same historic building
that houses Coquette Cafe.
Andrew Schneider
Andy began his culinary career working at a number
of small Milwaukee area restaurants laying
the foundation for his rounded experience. He
graduated from the Milwaukee Area Technical
College with a Culinary Apprenticeship degree in
1999. Throughout his apprenticeship he worked
at Sanford Restaurant under the tutelage of
proprietor Chef Sanford D’Amato and stayed on to
became Sous Chef for two years.
Andy left Sanford to spread his culinary wings
delving into Mexican cuisine at Blue Agave in Mequon
and at Gilbert’s of Lake Geneva where he explored
organic cooking and the study of pastry.
Andy left Gilbert’s in 2002 to become Chef de
Cuisine of the D’Amatos’ French Bistro, Coquette
Café, and has now partnered with them in their
current endeavor, Harlequin Bake Shop.
Andy spent time at the renowned patisserie Payard
in New York City where he observed classic
French pastry making technique. He accompanied
Sandy and Angie on a fact finding excursion
to Paris in 2004 where the concept for Harlequin
began to form.
Apart from duties as chef, pastry chef and baker,
Andy is a second degree Black Belt of
Tae Kwon Do and has competed in regional and
national competitions. A trip to Korea gave
Andy insight into the culture and the history of Tae
Kwon Do. Andy currently resides in his own
home in Milwaukee.
