Planet Next

He probably won’t be whipping up many $205- per-person tasting menus, but this January, Michael Clauss — who most recently was executive chef at Daniel Boulud’s Feast & Fêtes [1] catering company in New York City — will take over the kitchen of The Daily Planet [2].

How did someone with such a sweet gig in the Big Apple end up in Burlington? “My girlfriend. I came back to be with her,” Clauss dishes.

The 35-year-old chef is no stranger to Vermont. After graduating in 1995 from the Culinary Institute of America [3] in Hyde Park, N.Y., the New Jersey native came to the Green Mountains for an internship at the swanky Equinox Resort and Spa [4] in Manchester Village.

Later, after a sous-chef gig at the Tribeca Grill in New York City and a long stint at The Chantecleer Restaurant [5] in East Dorset, Clauss worked as chef-instructor for the p.m. à la carte class at NECI Commons in Burlington and cohosted a regular Friday-morning cooking show on WCAX. He took a year off to do relief work after Hurricane Katrina, then returned to teach his NECI [6] course at what was then called The Inn at Essex.

Until January — when current chef Tyler Lewis [7] leaves to attend the University of Vermont — Clauss will serve as a consultant at the Planet, test-driving some of his recipes as daily specials. One or two weeks into the new year, he will introduce a brand-new menu. “It’ll be super simple,” he says. It’ll also be super local: “We’ll be getting more and more involved with the Vermont Fresh Network [8] and the Cheese Council [9],” Clauss notes.