THE PASSION BEGINS
At 15, he got a job scrubbing pots and pans in the restaurant of the historic Dutch-Colonial Colgate Inn in Hamilton. Palmer says that “amid expert chefs and scrubbing pots and pans is where my passion for food began.” There, and at the home of family friend Sharon Crane, a home economics teacher at his high school. “My parents kept late hours at the store, so meal times were a bit hectic,” he relates. “I was invited to Sharon’s, and she was always busy baking—especially her famous gingersnap cookies.” She made the most fantastic dishes, quite different from what I was used to. Sharon became like an aunt. I watched, observed, soaked it all in, assisted. She opened my eyes to the possibility of a career as a chef. She just turned 84 and is still amazing.” (Sharon Crane’s gingersnaps are a turn-down amenity for guests at Palmer’s Archer Hotel in Napa.) Right out of high school, Palmer was accepted at the C.I.A. “I was the black sheep of the family,” he laughs. “My first year at the C.I.A., I knew I was on the right path. That didn’t go over so well with my parents and half-brother Leslie. They thought I was nuts.” Upon graduation, he headed to New York City. Among his early influences were Leon Dahnens (C.I.A.), Buzzy O’Keeffe (River Café), and Jean-Jacques Rachou (La Côte Basque). That path led to meeting the former prima ballerina, Lisa Villarini, who had retired from the American Ballet Theater and working as the dining room manager at Lafayette where Jean-Georges (Vongerichten) was chef. Palmer couldn’t help but become inebriated by the exotic and aromatic flavors coming from the kitchen. Palmer and Lisa married and they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last month. They have four boys: Cortland, graduated from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at Berkeley and is a New York banker. Randall, a graduate of NYU Tisch, is an L.A.-based screenwriter and author. Reed, graduates this year from the C.I.A.and has been accepted at Cornell, and Eric is studying film at NYU. APRIL 2018 | NEW YORK LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE | 17