In the case of Chanterelle, the elegant restaurant located in the Mercantile Exchange building, it is unfitting, in fact, unreasonable, to list David Waltuck's name as chef on the top of this page without placing his wife Karen's name along side. Even though David presides over the kitchen, overseeing all of the cooking and food prep, the soul of this special restaurant is unmistakably the joint vision of two very creative people. It all comes together so seamlessly because, as Karen Waltuck says, the two "share a philosophy" of simplicity, elegance, and beauty.

David Waltuck's cooking has been credited as embodying "a kind of serious simplicity, with layers that resonate with each other." Ruth Reichl, who gave Chanterelle her first New York Times four-star rating, insists that Waltuck's sometimes odd-sounding combination of ingredients (e.g. the pig's feet and clams that were served together in one memorable dish) are always in perfect harmony. And it is no wonder, since the Waltucks are obsessed with finding the best seasonal ingredients available -- scouring sources all over the country for the freshest wild mushrooms, seafood, produce, and game. David Waltuck's cuisine incorporates his love for classic French cooking as well as for flavors of the Far East. As Maitress d', Karen Waltuck presides over the dining room, anticipating a diner's needs even before they do. She is the mind behind the room's minimalist decor, a room known for its lack of ornament other than impeccable architectural detail and her spectacular floral arrangements.

Neither David nor Karen Waltuck knew they would end up in the restaurant world. David Waltuck only became interested in cooking while a Marine Biology student at City College in the seventies. Upon graduation, he briefly attended The Culinary Institute of America, then worked for two years as lunch chef at La Petite Ferme. Karen Waltuck was an anthropology student at Boston University. She traveled throughout the archeology sites of Central and South America before returning to New York to take a position as fashion coordinator and buyer for an East Side boutique. This position took her to France, Italy, and England, where she fell under the spell of European haute cuisine and the accompanying attention to service.

The Waltucks opened Chanterelle in Soho while still in their early twenties, and quickly became known both within that artistic community, and later, throughout the city, for their vibrant food and understated setting. Being part of the community, both formerly in Soho and currently in TriBeCa (where the restaurant has since relocated to a larger space) is important to them. The menu, which they change every six weeks according to seasonal availability and David's commitment to variety, is set inside menu covers designed by some of New York City's most prominent artists, (including Cy Twombly, Jenny Holzer, and Ellsworth Kelly), many of whom live and work nearby the restaurant. They might be seen, along with the evenings' other diners, tucking into David Waltuck's signature seafood sausage, or his briny oysters napped in a white truffle beurre blanc.