BY CLAIRE McCURDY

42 East 58th Street
Midtown East
taorestaurant.com/

Master Chef, John Villa. Photo Credit: behindtheburner.com

TAO Restaurant (New York) has just celebrated its 10^th Year Anniversary on Saturday 10/16, /10, a milestone for a New York landmark which is also the highest grossing restaurant in the nation.

The Tao is a concept found in Taoism, Confucianism, and more generally in ancient Chinese philosophy and East Asian religions. While the word itself translates as ‘way’, ‘path’, or ‘route’, it is often used philosophically to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world.  One might even say: the heart of the world.

Chef John Villa says that TAO Restaurant is essentially at his heart— his pride and joy. –When asked to define TAO’s menu – whether it could be described as Asian fusion, Villa emphatically said that it could not.  He presents classical Japanese and Chinese dishes – he maintains the authentic quality of each cuisine. Villa serves a fine Peking duck exactly the way it would be served in Beijing. Chinese and Japanese guests have remarked on the quality and authenticity of the offerings.  In other words, Asians are just as pleased and impressed with his classic Asian food as are all other diners.

We asked “what really drives you, Chef John?” And he said that it is the creation of top quality food in high volume so that each dish is presented exactly the same, with exactly the same degree of quality, when TAO’s doors open at noon as when they close at midnight.  In other words, no matter how many times a single dish is replicated for hundreds of diners, each version of that dish is the same.  Villa cautions that the restaurant is not a “factory” but a place which serves consistently beautiful dishes at the peak of their perfection.

The story of Villa’s professional background emphases his early love of fine food, his early and youthful apprenticeship, the speed of his rise, the quickness of his ability to absorb and reproduce a wide array of new and classic foods, and, quite simply, his ability to please his eclectic and sophisticated diners.

After training at the age of 19 at the Culinary Institute of America and a brief apprenticeship at le Cirque and Tropical, Villa really came into his own at the Judson Grill. Within months, at the tender age of 24, Villa had earned a title as Executive Chef and two stars from the New York Times, making him a rising star in the culinary firmament.   Villa’s wildly successful reinvention of the Boathouse in Central Park earned him the Times sobriquet “a prodigy” and another two stars from the New York Times. For Villa’s opening of his own Portuguese inspired restaurant, Pico,  he received another coveted star for a total of three stars from the Times, and a stunning accolade: “’John Villa has created his own private Portugal, a fantasy wrapped in a shimmering haze.’”

But it is at TAO that Chef John Villa has become the mastermind behind one of the largest Pan-Asian kitchens in the world.  He is truly an extraordinary, internationally acclaimed master chef.

Coda: Tao features a unique and striking feature– a huge statue of the Buddha.. The Buddha was brought in through the roof with a giant crane before the restaurant opened in 2000.  Some statistics:  Height: 16 ft tall, Weight: 4,000 pounds,  Material: Wood;  Origin: Designed by Thomas Shoos; carved in Thailand.

We asked, “Why did Chef John decide to import the giant Buddha into the restaurant?”  Villa said .  “The effect on diners is wonderful. The Buddha creates an incredible cultural and possibly spiritual ambience. “   Villa says it always is a pleasure to be there—“everybody loves TAO.”