NEW YORK Michael Ronis, founding chef for the Alicart Restaurant Group, operator of such popular concepts as Carmine’s, Virgil’s BBQ, Artie’s and Gabriela’s, died late last month after a long bout with cancer. He was 60 years old.
Ronis, a restaurant industry veteran of more than 20 years, began his career as sous chef at Dock’s, an upscale casual seafood restaurant in New York. He then moved to become the opening chef for Alicart’s Carmine’s restaurant, a well known, family-style Italian eatery with locations on Manhattan’s upper west side and midtown, and a location soon to open in Washington, D.C.
“Michael will be dearly missed,” a spokeswoman for Alicart said. “His contributions are evident in every detail of the beloved restaurants he called home for most of his professional life. He personally helped build Carmine’s from the ground up, and his passion for the industry and loyalty to Artie and Alice Cutler never waivered.”
The spokeswoman added that Ronis worked “up to the very end … to get things off on the right foot at the new Carmine’s in Washington, D.C.”
Ronis is survived by his wife, Elle.
Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].