Daniel Gendron was raised in Tokyo, Japan and is a 1981 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. He worked thruout New York City’s restaurants and Catering establishments back in 1980’s and 90’s. and was formerly the Chef of Valuer Mansion, the per-eminent mansion, wedding venue here on River Road in Rhinebeck, NY. Daniel Gendron received his Certified Executive Chef status through The American Culinary Federation. The Tasting Room restaurant, now in its 14th year, offers guests an open kitchen and a place where every table is the chef’s table.
Daniel proudly follows in the footsteps of his father, Jean Pierre Gendron, who was the chef and host of the well-reviewed and much-loved Lucky Pierre restaurant below the renowned Latin Quarter Club in NYC. A dining experience at The Tasting Room offers something very similar to Jean Pierre’s “Petit French Coin”, with unique food prepared from fresh ingredients and an ever-present chef and host.
Chef Daniel’s simply culinary philosophy centers on Taste and Presentation
Taste: All menus require the integration of fresh, local (whenever possible)resources, technique and “ingrediuity” (chef‘s word defined as “ingredients and ingenuity”). These essential elements come together in the final dish.
Presentation: Food is not detailed, its simple! Detailing is bring out the final flavor profile,creating something that visually pleasing and palatable. We concoct a variety of familiar dishes with a twist for our guest.
What kind of food do we offer? It’s called the Tasting room exactly for this reason. Chefs backround is a mismash of ethnic dishes form Japan, India, Chinese, French and Italian.
Finally, the Key ingredient creating the “je ne sais quoi” here at the Tasting Room is the chef’s endless passion for Food, Drink, Music.The chef’s curated music playlist is based on his mothers repertoire as a Jazz singer; Youtube Dolly Baker/sorry had to get that plug in for his mother. We Hope our guests feel the love that goes into Tasting Room Restaurant as a whole these past 14 years.