{{Short description|American restaurateur}} {{COI|date=March 2018}}
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'''Dean J. Poll''' (born April 18, 1957) is an American restaurateur based in New York and the founder of the Poll Group, former operator of Manhattan's Loeb Central Park Boathouse and owner of Gallagher's Steakhouse.
==Background and early career== Born in Manhasset, on Long Island's North Shore, Dean Poll is the second of three sons of Alexandra and Dimitri Poll. He played center on the Paul D. Schreiber High School basketball team in Port Washington. On weekends and during school breaks he worked as a "water boy" in Pappas Restaurant, his family's high-volume, 250-seat seafood restaurant in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Poll started working full-time after high school when he became the purchasing manager for the family's newest property, a 14,000 sq ft. food complex in Midtown Manhattan's Time & Life Building. It comprised Dawson's Pub, La Petite Brassiere, Bon Jour coffee shop and Southampton Caterers that served the office building-dense Rockefeller Center neighborhood.
Working in the restaurant's back-of-house trenches, Poll excelled at inspecting seafood in the legendary Fulton Fish Market, negotiating with meat brokers in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, and sourcing vegetables in the South Bronx's Hunts Point, the largest produce market in the world.<ref name="Hunts Point Produce Market">{{cite web|title=Hunts Point Produce Market|url=http://huntspointproducemkt.com/big-city-produce-nyc/|access-date=2018-01-24|archive-date=2018-03-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321063220/http://huntspointproducemkt.com/big-city-produce-nyc/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==The Long Island years== In 1980, Dean Poll and his brothers, Gillis and George, recreated Pappas Restaurant in Williston Park, renaming it Riverbay Seafood Bar & Grill in 1989.<ref name="A Seafood Place with Roots in the Bay">{{cite news|last1=Joanne|first1=Starkey|title=A Seafood Place with Roots in the Bay|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/17dineli.html|accessdate=24 January 2018|date=17 June 2007}}</ref> In 1986, they opened Bryant & Cooper Steak House and butcher shop in Roslyn. By 1997, The New York Times called Bryant & Cooper "arguably the best steakhouse on Long Island" and Riverbay, "Nassau-Suffolk's No. 1 seafood restaurant.<ref name="It's All in the Family and Keeps Growing">{{cite news|last1=Scholem|first1=Richard J.|title=It's All in the Family and Keeps Growing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/13/nyregion/it-s-all-in-the-family-and-keeps-growing.html|accessdate=24 January 2018|work=New York Times|date=13 April 1997}}</ref>"
==Entering Manhattan market== Interested in expanding into Manhattan, Dean Poll dissolved his partnership with his brothers in 1998–1999. Dividing the assets, he retained ownership of Riverbay, while setting his sights on the Central Park Boathouse, a city-owned concession that was requesting proposals.
==Central Park Boathouse== In June 2000, New York City's Department of Parks and Recreation awarded Dean Poll the concession for the Loeb Boathouse restaurant.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Keil|first1=Braden|title=City Sinks Boathouse Restaurant Managers|url=https://nypost.com/2000/06/21/city-sinks-boathouse-restaurant-managers/|accessdate=24 January 2018|publisher=New York Post|date=21 June 2000}}</ref> The restaurant closed in October 2022.{{cn|date=April 2026}}
==Tavern on the Green== In August 2009, the Parks Department granted Dean Poll the concession for Tavern on the Green, the second of two restaurants in Manhattan's iconic Central Park.<ref name="Boathouse Operator to Run Tavern on the Green, and Changes Are Planned">{{cite news|last1=Collins|first1=Glenn|title=Boathouse Operator to Run Tavern on the Green, and Changes Are Planned|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/nyregion/29tavern.html|accessdate=24 January 2018|work=New York Times|date=28 August 2009}}</ref> A major labor dispute erupted between Dean Poll and the union representing Tavern workers.<ref name="First Course at Tavern: A Clash With Labor">{{cite news|last1=Collins|first1=Glenn|title=First Course at Tavern: A Clash With Labor|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/dining/23tavern.html|accessdate=24 January 2018|work=New York Times|date=22 September 2009}}</ref> The dispute resulted in Poll backing out of the deal and the union organizing a 44-day strike [11] at the Boathouse. Ultimately the two sides came to terms.<ref name="Boathouse Strike Ends in Settlement">{{cite news|last1=Greenhouse|first1=Steven|title=Boathouse Strike Ends in Settlement|url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/boathouse-strike-ends-in-settlement/|accessdate=24 January 2018|work=New York Times|date=22 September 2011}}</ref>
==Gallagher's Steakhouse== In January 2013, Dean Poll bought legendary Gallagher's Steakhouse from longtime owner Marlene Brody.<ref name="Gallagher's gets a new steak on life">{{cite news|last1=Cuozzo|first1=Steve|title=Gallagher's gets a new steak on life|url=https://nypost.com/2013/01/03/gallaghers-gets-a-new-steak-on-life/|accessdate=24 January 2018|publisher=New York Post|date=3 January 2013}}</ref> Rescuing the 200-seat, Prohibition-era restaurant 14 days before it was scheduled to close,<ref name="Gallagher's gets a new steak on life"/> Poll began a strategic 7-month renovation that the New York Post's Steve Cuozzo likened to "stirring the resurrection of a classic.<ref name="Old bones, contemporary cuisine at Gallaghers Steakhouse">{{cite news|last1=Cuozzo|first1=Steve|title=Old bones, contemporary cuisine at Gallaghers Steakhouse|url=https://nypost.com/2014/04/08/old-bones-contemporary-cuisine-at-gallaghers-steakhouse/|accessdate=24 January 2018|publisher=New York Post|date=8 April 2014}}</ref>" In April 2014, Gallaghers reopened to rave reviews <ref name="Old bones, contemporary cuisine at Gallaghers Steakhouse"/> that celebrated Poll's success restoring its vintage horseshoe bar, iconic glass-encased meat locker.
In December 2017, Poll's resurrection of Gallagher's was the subject of a New York Times article by James Barron.<ref name="The Search for History in a Runyonesque Enclave">{{cite news|last1=Barron|first1=James|title=The Search for History in a Runyonesque Enclave|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/nyregion/gallaghers-new-york.html?_r|accessdate=24 January 2018|work=New York Times|date=29 November 2017}}</ref>
Since Poll took ownership and brought the restaurant back to its original glory, Gallaghers continues to earn accolades as one of the best steakhouses in New York<ref name="This Old-School Steakhouse Serves One of NYC's Best, Most Elusive Prime Ribs ">{{cite news|last1=Sutton|first1=Ryan|title=This Old-School Steakhouse Serves One of NYC's Best, Most Elusive Prime Ribs|url=https://ny.eater.com/2021/12/1/22811836/gallaghers-review-steaks-prime-rib-theater-district-nyc-restaurants|work=Eater|date= 1 December 2021}}</ref> and the world.<ref name="These 8 NYC steakhouses were just voted best in the world">{{cite news|last1=Rahmanan|first=Anna |title= These 8 NYC steakhouses were just voted best in the world|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/these-8-nyc-steakhouses-were-just-voted-best-in-the-world-052024|work=TimeOut|date= 20 May 2024}}</ref>
In 2023, Poll opened Gallaghers Steakhouse Boca Raton <ref name="Gallaghers Steakhouse Is Open and Wowing Us">{{cite news|last1=Speed|first1=Marie|title=Gallaghers Steakhouse Is Open and Wowing Us|url=https://www.bocamag.com/gallaghers-steakhouse-is-open-and-wowing-us/|work=Boca Raton Magazine|date= 20 July 2023}}</ref> in South Florida, marking the legendary restaurant's first expansion under his direction outside of the historic Manhattan location.
==Personal life== Dean Poll and his wife Linda, whom he met in 1980, are parents of two sons. He is on the Board of the Boys' Club of New York <ref name="The Boys' Club of New York website.">{{cite web|title=The Boys' Club of New York website|url=https://www.bcny.org/board|accessdate=24 January 2018}}</ref> and has served on the board of the New York Athletic Club.
An active member of New York's Greek-American community, Poll served as parish council president of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity from 2013 - 2016. The Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch named Dean Poll an Archon,<ref name="Archons website">{{cite web|title=Archons website|date=9 February 2016 |url=http://www.archons.org/archons/|accessdate=24 January 2018}}</ref> [17] Nomophylax, one of the highest civilian honors given by the Greek Orthodox Church.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poll, Dean}} Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:People from Manhasset, New York Category:American restaurateurs