Ask chef Marc Murphy where he grew up and he’ll fire off a list of cosmopolitan destinations — Milan, Paris, Villefranche, Washington DC, Rome and Genoa — “and that’s before i turned 12,” he’ll explain. For some, growing up the son of a globetrotting diplomat might have been stressful, yet for Murphy, this dizzying list of hometowns served as an excellent education in French and Italian cuisine. Indeed the menu at Landmarc, is a delicious culinary ride through France and Italy the way Murphy has experienced these countries: at a leisurely pace, with whimsical excursions onto enticing side roads. Murphy is now the proud chef and owner of three successful restaurants — Landmarc [TriBeCa], Ditch Plains and Landmarc [at the Time Warner Center].

As Murphy tells it, he started cooking because he didn’t have the funds to become a professional racecar driver. Thus, he followed his brother to Peter Kump’s New York cooking school, now known as the institute of culinary education. After a brief stint in Europe where he apprenticed in restaurants in France and Italy, he returned to New York and landed a job as a line cook at Terrance Brennan’s Prix Fixe. He stayed for almost two years, working his way through every station in the kitchen and forging a professional bond with Brennan’s sous chefs Joseph Fortunato and David Pasternak.

Eager to return to Europe, Murphy bought a plane ticket and a copy of the Michelin red guide, and upon landing, began knocking on the doors of some of Paris’ most notable restaurants. He finally got a position at the one-star Le Miraville, where he stayed for one and a half years. Afterwards, he staged at the famed Louis XV in Monte Carlo, where executive chef Alain Ducasse was so impressed with Murphy’s skills that he personally made arrangements for him to work with Sylvain Portay at le cirque once he returned to the US. Murphy still considers Portay to be his greatest teacher. “Sylvain was above all concerned with coaxing out the most vibrant, interesting flavors any ingredient had to offer, yet he insisted on minimal manipulation,” he recalls.

After Le Cirque, Fortunato tapped him to work as a sous chef at Layla, Drew Nieporent’s middle eastern fantasy in TriBeCa, where Georges Masraff acted as consultant. Then, when Masraff was invited by Joe Baum to help open cellar in the sky at windows on the world, he recruited Murphy to serve as executive chef. After receiving critical acclaim, including a two-star review from the New York times, Murphy headed uptown and back to French cuisine as executive chef of La Fourchette where the times’ critic Ruth Reichl awarded him another glowing two-star review, citing his “open desire to transform food [so that] in his hands, even a simple green salad . . . Looks like a ruffled hat in a painting by Renoir.”

At Landmarc [TriBeCa], which Murphy opened with his wife, Pamela Schein Murphy, he has transformed food – turning casual rustic French and Italian dishes, accompanied by great wines, into memorable occasions. He applies the same mentality to the fish shack concept with Ditch Plains, where guests enjoy fish shack staples on a corner in the west village. At Landmarc [at the Time Warner Center], Murphy brings his downtown, neighborhood bistro to uptown diners in need of a comfortable staple.