Sometimes, you just can’t suppress your inner desire for what you love to do.  Sure, you can try to focus on other things you excel in.  But when you know where your heart is and have the fortitude to make a change, it can only turn out right.  And Executive Chef and co-owner, David Kruse, turns it out right daily, at the Island Palm Grill.

Kruse, with co-owner Larry Cerrito, inhabited the space of the former Sisters Café in Spring Lake, on March 30, 2005.  Kruse and Cerrito had big shoes to fill; for the “Sisters” had been putting out some great food.  And although change can be tenacious in this fast-paced, restaurant industry, Island Palm Grill has taken on its own life, and as Kruse puts it, “Island Palm Grill is here to stay.”

                Kruse grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey.  His mom, Mary Ann, a Registered Nurse, was a home baker of breads, cookies and cinnamon buns.  Kruse describes her passion for baking, especially extensive around the holidays as “inspirational,” and “creative enough to have been a second career.” With this, Mrs. Kruse started her son in the kitchen at the age of four, baking cookies and teaching him how to be a clean-as-you-go chef. 

                Kruse was very athletic during his high school years, playing football and performing the high jump in track and field.  He began working in pizzerias and Italian food establishments at the age of 14, while simultaneously focusing on athletics and school work.  He competed in the Junior Olympics and indoor national events in track and field.  After high school, he graduated with a degree in Exercise Science/Physiology from Bergen Community College and went on to become a personal trainer, teaching fitness and nutrition.  He continued to work in the restaurant business as well, having two separate careers, moving daily from kitchens to fitness centers.   When his culinary aspirations won over his affections, he enrolled at the formerly known Peter Kump’s Cooking School, now The Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan.  Kruse dove in, working full-time while attending school full-time, nights and weekends.  He felt a proper education would afford him the knowledge of the history of cooking, formal classical training, and the credibility of an accomplished chef. 

                Kruse graduated in October of 1999, after doing an externship at Rose Hill in Manhattan, owned by renowned chef, Larry Forgione.  There, his baking and dessert-making skills matured, producing ice creams, cheese cakes and breads. He also worked on the line and did heavy prep work.  He then went on to work for celebrated chef, Bobby Flay at the Mesa Grill also in New York City, where he started as a line cook but within a week became a rounds man, working at different stations, when and where needed.

 He quickly escalated to sauté and grill, one of five people who were pumping out 400 dinners on a Saturday night.  He stayed for six months, also doing personal events with Flay, to include television show food preparation. 

                Kruse was then lured to a Sous Chef position in Harlem at Jimmy’s Uptown, a 2-story restaurant which sat 280 guests.  He again revered, this time to Executive Sous Chef, where he would stay late hours, cooking for musicians, baseball players and celebrities.  When the Chef de Cuisine from Mesa Grill contacted him about an opening as a Sous Chef at Mesa Grill, he met with Flay - and stayed for three years.  His work at Mesa Grill was not limited to the confines of the restaurant; he represented this American food eatery at numerous food events and promotions to include the CBS Morning Show, the Food Network and the Latin Food Show. 

                Flay allowed Kruse to be creative with special additions to the menu, exploring and tweaking, “playing with the food” while refining his trade.  He learned the secrets of how to balance and compliment foods on the plate, so that not one thing overpowers another.   After gaining much experience, he left to work for a short while at Dos Caminos on Park Avenue before being recruited by the Manhattan Chili Company as Executive Chef in two New York City locations.  This gave him the opportunity to fine-tune and rework all of their chili recipes, relying on his knowledge of distinctive peppers for specific flavor, earth tones and heat.

With solidifying confidence, Kruse then pondered over opening up his own restaurant or work in a fine dining establishment.  After searching the Philadelphia and New York areas, he decided to “bite the bullet just like when he returned to school,” and chose to open his own restaurant in New Jersey.  With a concept in mind, he and Cerrito decided on the Jersey Shore area, and Island Palm Grill was born.

                Serving a self-described, “Gulf Coast, Nuevo Latino cuisine,” Kruse offers a diverse menu to include American and Caribbean ingredients, complimentary to his cooking style.  Neither his menu nor his specials - which change daily - are over-planned.  These selections depend on where his creativity will take him.  Fixed menu items, such as the Plantain Crusted Grouper or Island Palm Paella, are signature dishes which guests keep coming back for.  And just like Mamma Mary Ann, desserts are done in house by Kruse, with selections to include variable fruit crisp, non-standard Crème Brulee offerings, such as espresso cinnamon, and banana and coconut crepes with warm chocolate ganache. 

                The decor also gives Island Palm Grill its own unique feel, reflective of the mood and the menu. Kruse and Cerrito have made subtle changes adding warmth in color and interior decoration, with more to come in the months ahead.  And, the occasional addition of a comedic, Murder Mystery dinner theatre in the front dining room brings a twist in entertainment as well. 

Kruse has had the resolve not once, but twice, to jump in, heart first, to his aspirations, and never look back. Happily, he has landed in Spring Lake, at the Island Palm Grill, where the food, takes you on a vacation.