John Tesar Takes Over the Kitchen at Palladino’s

John Tesar, the Dallas chef who built a reputation for public feuds and once called himself “the most hated chef in Dallas,” is now running the kitchen at Palladino’s Steak & Seafood in Grand Central Terminal. According to Eater New York, which interviewed him, he says the temper is behind him. “I’m really a wise, pragmatic old man now who’s been in the restaurant business for five decades,” Tesar told the outlet.

Tesar started in early September as corporate executive chef for Palladino Restaurant Group. He oversees the Grand Central restaurant and the group’s Dallas location, which opened about six months ago. He remains based in Dallas and travels between the two cities.

The move follows a step back from the Dallas steakhouses that made his name. Tesar described it to Eater as a business decision, saying he wanted to work with someone who has infrastructure and significant financial backing. He is still tied to the Knife brand through licensing but is not involved in its day-to-day operations.

Palladino’s opened last year at 23 Vanderbilt Avenue, near East 43rd Street, in the space that had housed Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse. Rockwell Group designed the roughly 250-seat restaurant, which has a formal dining room, a bar and lounge, and a 2,000-square-foot all-season patio. The opening chef, Sam Hazen, has since left, ownership confirmed to Eater.

Owner Joseph Palladino is a Bronx-born former NYPD officer who spent decades in Las Vegas and Dallas, where he founded the steakhouse Nick & Sam’s. Tesar has known him for more than 20 years. Palladino approached him years ago, but Tesar was not available then.

The menu will not follow the Knife model. Tesar said the dry-aging program that defined that restaurant is not part of this job. “This is purely Joe’s venture and Joe’s vision,” he told Eater. The prime beef comes from Allen Brothers, and menu changes are aimed at Grand Central foot traffic, which means a wider range of prices. Tesar is adding flat iron, culotte, skirt and baseball steak, a thick center-cut sirloin trimmed like a filet, for around $40 to $45. Filet mignon runs roughly $100. Tableside Dover sole with brown butter and capers is also planned.

Palladino wants diners to look past the steaks to the sushi, seafood and Italian dishes. He told Eater that Tesar “legitimizes” the Italian side of the menu. Tesar, who was raised in the Hamptons, calls himself “a seafood guy” and said Knife “made me the meat guy.”

It is his first New York kitchen job since a three-month stint at David Burke’s Fishtail on East 62nd Street, which ended with a one-star New York Times review in 2009. His earlier New York work included 13 Barrow Street and cooking alongside Anthony Bourdain at 44 & X, Vine and the Supper Club. He later worked in Las Vegas and took over the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas in 2006.

His record includes public conflicts. D Magazine’s 2011 cover dubbed him the most hated chef in Dallas, and the same year it reported staff complaints about thrown pans and name-calling, which he partly denied. In 2014 he banned Dallas Morning News critic Leslie Brenner after a three-star review. Twitter suspended him in 2022. In 2023 he left an Orange County restaurant project after being filmed yelling obscenities at picketing union workers.

Asked about that history, Tesar cited “great amounts of therapy” and told Eater he is done with television competitions. He said new hires at Palladino’s will be announced within weeks, and Midtown catering is planned. Palladino confirmed he plans to expand the restaurant. “I’m not just here to do John Tesar,” Tesar said. “I’m here to do Joe Palladino.”