Chef Marc Murphy had an education in European cuisine from an early age—as a child of a diplomat, he was raised in Milan, Paris, Villefranche, Washington DC, Rome, and Genoa. This citizen of the world has called New York City home for many years, but his Landmarc restaurants, in Tribeca and the on the Upper West Side, reflect all of those influences of his early life and early eating. Italian and French bistro food is front and center in dishes like heirloom-tomato panzanella, côte de boeuf, and English pea risotto.
Murphy’s cooking also speaks of the great chefs under whom he cooked, both in Europe and in New York, after graduating from the Institute of Culinary Education. After a stint with chef Terrance Brennan, at Prix Fixe, Murphy returned to Europe, where he staged at Monte Carlo’s Louis XV, with executive chef Alain Ducasse. That led to Murphy’s New York return and work with chef (and, says Murphy, his greatest mentor) Sylvain Portay at Le Cirque. Middle Eastern cooking followed at Drew Nieporent’s Layla; he became executive chef of Cellar in the Sky at Windows on the World, and at uptown’s La Fourchette, where critics hailed his expertise with bringing out the best in ingredients without overmanipulating them.
Murphy branched out on his own to found Landmarc in 2004, the now-shuttered oyster bar and fish shack Ditch Plains in 2006, and Kingside at the Viceroy New York Hotel, which features Asian small plates and New American cooking. As his restaurants grew, he founded the umbrella group Benchmarc Restaurants.
Now Murphy is as well known for his television chops as for those he has in the kitchen. Since 2009 he has been a judge on Food Network’s Chopped, as well as appearing on Iron Chef America and Beat Bobby Flay, among others. His first cookbook, Season With Authority: Confident Home Cooking, was published in 2015. And he makes time to serve on the boards of organizations City Harvest, Culintro, and Passport NYC.