Michael Turback:
CLASS OF 1962
St. Mary's Regional High SchoolClass of 1962
South amboy, NJ
Cornell University - Hotel AdministrationClass of 1966
Ithaca, NY
Sacred Heart SchoolClass of 1958
South amboy, NJ
Michael's Story
I spent 3 years at St. Mary's, then transferred to Sayreville H.S. for senior year. (I was advised that it was a better route to the Ivy League). In fact, I was accepted to Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and the School of Hotel Administration where I studied hotel and restaurant management, graduating in 1966. I worked for Far West Services in Honolulu after graduation, then returned to Ithaca to open my first restaurant, Turback's of Ithaca. The restaurant's mission was to combine inventiveness, passionate cooking with local ingredients, and the novel concept of a wine list with exclusively New York State products. The achievement was recognized by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, Gourmet Magazine, Wine Spectator, Nation's Restaurant News, the Food Channel, and NPR's "All Things Considered." Bon Appetit Magazine hailed Turback's as "the best restaurant in New York State."
In 1986 I was selected as a "Rising Star" by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine. The restaurant pioneered concepts that sparked trends that are seen throughout the restaurant industry today, including loyalty to small local farmers and use of seasonal local produce. Wine tasting events and wine dinners inspired interest in a new generation of local wines. The Turback's staff even picked local grapes for the restaurant's house wine. Turback's originated "The Great Nouveau Race," in which long-distance runners carried the first-released bottles of upstate wines to market, upstaging the delivery of French Nouveau. The restaurant's success dispelled the prevailing popular belief that fine restaurants could serve only European and California wines. Wine Enthusiast Magazine named Turback's "one of the wine-friendliest restaurants in America" a...Expand for more
nd the restaurant was awarded "Best American Wine List" by Restaurant Business Magazine. I opened other restaurants in Ithaca, as well as Elmira and Binghamton. As a retailer I developed The Original Made-in-New York Stores in Ithaca and Corning, featuring regional food, wines, and a variety of gifts produced or manufactured around the state, the concept attracted media attention and spawned a national mail order catalog. A feature article in New Yorker Magazine commented on the stores' policy of excluding items from outside New York as "an act of partisanship that some would call lunatic, others courageous." Then, as an online retailer I created two influential electronic commerce ventures, The NEW YORK FIRST Company, the first department store concept on the Internet, and History Company, an online source for extraordinary pieces of American history. As an author, I have written several food-related books, including "A Month of Sundaes," a 30-chapter journey through the history and folklore of the Ice Cream Sundae; a follow-up work, "The Banana Split Book," on the origins of the iconic dessert and its status in the social chronicle of an entire century; "Greetings from the Finger Lakes: A Food and Wine Lover's Companion," a celebration of achievements in winemaking, artisan farming, and culinary invention; "Hot Chocolate," an introduction to 60 trend-setting recipes contributed by the world's preeminent chocolatiers; "Mocha," an exploration the partnership of chocolate and coffee in a range of original drinks and desserts from chocolatiers, pastry chefs, and baristas; "Coffee Drinks," a collection of postmodern espresso-based drinks and cocktails. At age 30 I became interested in long-distance running, and to date I have completed 109 races of marathon distance or longer (6 of those were 50-mile trail races).
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
Register for Free to start a reunion event!
Photos