Michael & Kurt Bohlsen, owners of several leading Long Island restaurants have appointed Garden City resident Cornelius Gallagher as corporate chef for the Bohlsen Restaurant Group.

Gallagher was most recently executive chef at premier luxury caterer Sonnier and Castle for two years after becoming the executive chef of Manhattan's Oceana. In his four years at Oceana, from 2002 - 2006, Gallagher was cited a Best New Chef in America by Food & Wine Magazine and one of New York's most influential chefs by New York Magazine. He also earned a three-star review from The New York Times and was credited in The New York Post for turning Oceana into New York City's best seafood restaurant and a top-dining destination.

Gallagher has worked alongside masters since his first steps in a professional kitchen. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, he worked as a fish cook for David Bouley at the original Restaurant Bouley. He then spent a year-and-a-half as chef de partie at four-star Lespinasse under Gray Kunz. In a move to France, he worked at the three-star Michelin L'Esperance under Marc Meneau as stagaire cuisine. After returning to the States, Gallagher became the sous chef at Peacock Alley with Laurent Gras for one-and-one-half years before taking the position of sous chef at Daniel under Daniel Boulud. During his one-and-a-half year tenure, the restaurant received four stars from The New York Times. During this time, Gallagher traveled to "stage" at three-star Michelin El Bulli with Ferran Adria in Roses, Spain.

Gallagher's new role with the Bohlsen Restaurant Group is to enhance the high-quality customer experience that has become a Bohlsen family signature. His goal is to impart consistent practices across the top-Zagat rated restaurants and to develop new restaurant concepts and menus. Working closely with the Bohlsens, executive chefs and their teams, he will apply his diverse and world-class experience toward the group's growth, refining back of the house systems with an eye on maintaining the highest standards across wide-ranging operations including the launch of new restaurants in 2010.

A Garden City resident, husband and father of two, Gallagher was born in the Bronx, New York and began cooking at the age of 12. At age 15, he entered a vocational cooking school, while still in high school, where he won the Top Young Culinarian award at age 16 and before enrolling in the Culinary Institute of America.