Charlie Palmer proudly admits that he has never been shy when it came to ambition. While some chefs prefer to remain within the domain of their own kitchens, speaking only through their culinary creations, Palmer is both entrepreneur and cook, linking his many business ventures to his numerous kitchens (including the renowned midtown Aureole, Lenox Room, a neighborhood restaurant on the upper east side, and Alva, a late-night eatery by Gramercy Park.

Palmer discovered that he liked cooking in high school, when a home economics teacher persuaded him to enroll in her course in exchange for all the food he could eat. After realizing, at age 16, that he might never be a professional football player, he wandered into the kitchen of a hotel near Colegate University and offered his aid to the Swiss chef for free. After high school, Palmer studied briefly at the Culinary Institute of America, until, one winter, he and a group of students played a joke on the maître d' of the school's restaurant and iced his car shut with aspic. Palmer fled to Manhattan where in 1988 he opened Aureole. Its initial two-star rating proved an immense disappointment to Palmer, but one that was overcome by subsequent successes (including a New York Times three-star rating). Aureole has steadily climbed since its opening, and was rated among the city's top four restaurants in 1995 Zagat. The restaurant has become renowned for such dishes as Palmer's signature sea scallops sandwiched in crisp waffled potato chips, and his theatrical, multi-dimensional desserts.

Charlie Palmer is as creative in his business ventures as he is in his chef's whites. Born in a farming community in upstate New York, he is a firm believer in using local products in his cooking. "I think it's terrible that the U.S., the largest dairy producer in the world, is not the highest quality producer," says Palmer. He recently bought into Peekskill's Egg Farm Dairy, and the dairy now supplies his restaurants with top quality butter, clabbered cream, and cheeses. Palmer, who spends over $140,000 each year on flowers for his restaurants, also bought an interest in the florist StoneKelly, who creates the towering arrangements seen at Aureole. Even further, as wine lover Palmer released the sparkling wine Aureole Cuvee in May 1995, blended and labelled exclusively for Aureole restaurant by the Iron Horse vintners in California.