Seamus Mullen, New York

Craving Spanish tapas in New York City? Check out Mullen’s hot new restaurant Tertulia, which was awarded two stars from The New York Times, three stars from New York Magazine, and was a finalist for one of the industry’s highest honors, the James Beard Foundation Award for best new restaurant. Mullen is currently developing El Colmado, a new tapas and wine bar in the forthcoming Gotham West Market in New York's Hell's Kitchen, scheduled to open this fall. He was also the former executive chef at Boqueria, one of the city's most beloved tapas spots.

Date-night dinner: My favorite home date-night meal is to cook summer seafood paella over hardwood on the grill on our terrace. People often think of grilling as just "man food," but I love to use our grill in all sorts of unusual ways.

Favorite way to sweat: I love going on an intense mountain bike ride. I used to race competitively and recently picked it up again—I forgot how much I love it and what a great workout it is. I don't even need to go far to do it: I discovered an awesome park for mountain biking in Queens of all places.

Food splurge: Going for the decadent Omakase menu at Neta, one of the best sushi restaurants in the city right now. Everything is impeccable quality, creative, and perfectly executed.

Growing up on an organic farm in Vermont, Seamus Mullen was mucking stalls, butchering lamb, and tasting his first—unforgettable—truffle with one of his grandmothers at an early age. And while he worked at local restaurants through high school, it was a senior year trip to northern Spain that solidified Mullen’s career-defining obsession with Spanish cooking.

Mullen didn’t enter the restaurant life full time until after college, where he studied Spanish literature and learned the language; he took another educational trip to the country before graduating in 1996. Mullen first worked in San Francisco, where he learned vital lessons about local produce, followed by Tabla and Crudo in New York City. Unsatisfied with his knowledge of Spanish culture and cuisine, Mullen took a position at Mugaritz, arguably one of the best restaurants in the world, followed by positions at Barcelon’as Abac and Alkimia where Mullen honed his knowledge of Catalonian cuisine.

After two years, Mullen returned to New York with a rounded knowledge of Spanish cuisine. He took a sous chef position at Brasserie 8½ and helped open Boqueria in 2006 (earning plaudits for the restaurant’s modern take on Catalan cuisine). He finally struck out on his own in 2011 with Tertulia and a menu dedicated to the sustainable cuisine of the Asturias region on Spain, an homage to Mullen’s years of culinary travel. Rounding out a very good year, Mullen published his first cookbook, Hero Food, in 2012, and was a finalist on “The Next Iron Chef.”

Tertulia
359 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10012
(646) 559-9909
http://tertulianyc.com
formerly of Boqueria
53 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
www.boquerianyc.com