| Gale Gand | |
| Birth Date: | 21 November 1956 |
| Birth Place: | Evanston, Illinois |
| Style: | Contemporary American cuisine |
| Education: | B.F.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology awarded 1981, La Varenne summers of 1982 and 1983 |
| Prevrests: | Gotham Bar and Grill, Jams, Bella Luna, Trio, Brasserie T, Vanilla Bean Bakery, Tru, Osteria di Tramonto, Tramonto's Steak & Seafood, RT Lounge, Gale's Coffee Bar, Spritzburger |
| Television: | Sweet Dreams |
| Awards: | Food & Wine Magazine 's Top Ten Best New Chefs, 1994; "Pastry Chef of the Year", The James Beard Foundation, 2001; "Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year", Bon Appetit Magazine, 2001 |
| Website: | http://www.galegand.com |
Gale Gand is a Chicago-based pastry chef, cookbook author, television personality, and winner of the 2001 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. Gand was the host of the Food Network show Sweet Dreams.[1] She was the Chef-in-Residence at Elawa Farm, in Lake Forest, Illinois. Gand is a partner and was the founding Executive Pastry Chef at Tru,[2] a contemporary fine-dining restaurant affiliated with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Gand and her partners at Tru won the 2007 James Beard Foundation Award for Service. She has blogged for the Huffington Post,[3] was a contestant on Iron Chef America in the 2006–2007 season,[4] and was a judge on Bravo's Top Chef in 2008 for the episode Wedding Wars.[5] Gand was also featured on the Great Chefs television program.[6]
A native of Deerfield, Illinois, Gand began her restaurant career in 1976 working as a line cook and waitress in Cleveland, Ohio, and then as a pastry chef in Rochester, New York. She later did pastry in New York City at The Gotham Bar and Grill and in England at Stapleford Park.[7]
In 1993, Gand opened Trio with culinary partner and ex-husband Rick Tramonto and Henry Adaniya in Evanston, Illinois and was named among Food and Wine Magazine's Top Ten Best New Chefs in 1994.[8] In 1999, she opened Tru with Tramonto and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises's Rich Melman. The following year she started making Gale's Root Beer, a cinnamon ginger vanilla flavored artisanal soda pop, producing 60,000 bottles a year which sells nationally.
In 1996, Gand was chosen by Julia Child to appear on two episodes of the PBS show Baking with Julia.[9]
Gand was the host of the Food Network show Sweet Dreams that ran on the network from 2000 to 2008.[10] She got the show without a try out when calling the network to confirm a date to be on Sarah Moulton's show where she was a frequent guest chef.[11]
On July 30, 2006, Gale Gand and ex-husband Rick Tramonto appeared on . Losing to Mario Batali (53 - 46).
In 2014, she partnered with Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith (The Hearty Boys) to open SpritzBurger, a 2-year "pop-up" in Chicago.[12]
Also in 2014, Gand was inducted into the Chicago Chef's Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the American Academy of Chefs in 2018.
In 2016, Gand and other chefs, such as Laurent Gras and Matt Troost, collaborated with turkey and beef jerky producer, Think Jerky, creating signature jerky products. Some of Gand's creations included "Sriracha Honey Turkey Jerky," "Original Turkey Sticks," "Mini Original Turkey Sticks," and "Sesame Teriyaki Beef Jerky."[13] [14] She was previously married to underground cartoonist Brian Bram and is currently married to Jimmy Seidita. Gale has 3 children and plays the mandolin and ukelele.