What Goes Around Truly Comes Around at Trento
When my wife and I first tried Trento about a month and a half ago, I ran in to Nina Seely, an old friend who I’d not seen in years. She and her husband Frank are partners with Donnie Damuth in the restaurant. Nina is a neat woman with a great eye for fashion, evidenced by her work at Sax 5th Avenue and Ralph Lauren. Anyway, we had a nice chat and caught up a bit as old friends are wont to do.
On the drive home, my wife asked how I had met Nina. Quite frankly, and not surprisingly for me, I couldn’t specifically remember. But one thing that stood out in my foggy memory banks was that she had a young teenager at the time who was already a serious foodie and appeared destined for a culinary career. I wondered aloud what had happened to the young man.
Suffice to say, on my next visit, Nina came to our table and asked if I had had the opportunity to speak with chef Alex. I replied that I had indeed and was quite impressed. Nina’s smile broadened exponentially at that and all suddenly became clear. The young foodie I had wondered about had indeed gone on to cooking school in New York and externed at some classic restaurants in NYC. Alex, the extremely talented and still passionate foodie had grown up to become the exec chef at the new Trento. And he was Frank and Nina’s son! You could have knocked me over with a pastry brush.
There’s nothing quite like seeing the joy a parent exhibits when their child has achieved a life goal. In my case, the emotion was more emphatic because I had not expected it. But somehow for me, that made it all the more pleasurable.
