Growing up in northern New Jersey surrounded by apple orchards, corn fields and strawberry patches, Mike Tusk acquired an intense interest and curiosity about food at a very early ago.

But it was later, after graduating from Tulane with a degree in Art History that Tusk dedicated himself to the culinary arts formally, and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.Upon

graduation from the CIA and desiring broader knowledge of the food and culture of Italy and France, Tusk decided to cook and travel extensively throughout Europe, in the process gaining valuable insight into both creative and technical aspects of the two cuisines. In

Provence, he trained in the kitchen of the Hostellerie de Crillon, a Relais & Chateaux property, and in Burgundy at theOne Michelin starred restaurant Moulin de Martorey. But

it is the regional cuisines of Italy that have captured Tusk’s interest most avidly while cooking in Barbaresco at Antica Torre. ^[0]