Marc Orfaly is a man of many contradictions. He enjoys playing drums and has a reputation for knowing how to have a good time. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who expertly poaches a silken cod, but he is. He’s also one of Food & Wine magazine’s 10 Best New Chefs 2004, and chef/co-owner of the well-regarded restaurants Pigalle and Marco in Boston.

Orfaly has been impressing patrons and food critics with his French-driven, internationally influenced cuisine since Pigalle opened in 2000. And when his Italian concept, Marco, was unveiled in Boston’s historic North End in September 2005, it was featured by Gourmet Magazine as a new hot spot, and in May 2006 it was named to Food & Wine Magazine’s ‘go’ list.

At Pigalle, Orfaly can be found in the kitchen pressing terrines of duck confit and foie gras, soaking prunes in armagnac, and preparing a cassoulet as rich and authentic as that of any chef in Toulouse, France. At Marco, he serves authentic, simple, and flavorful Italian cuisine, featuring delicacies like house-cured salumi and flavorful pastas like orecchiette with homemade sausage and broccoli rape. Though he’s content to be creating in the back of the house, he does get involved in front of the house operations.

Orfaly’s taste is very much in demand these days, known as he is among his peers for his astute palate and ability to handle an array of influences with confidence and understanding. For Orfaly, cooking was originally a simple means to an end. A musician from his adolescence, Orfaly became a short order cook as a teen only to pay for his drum equipment. By the end of high school, however, he was still cooking and his creative passion became more focused on food and less on drums. He developed alongside Chefs Todd English and Barbara Lynch in Boston and Joachim Splichal and Nancy Silverton in Los Angeles. He eventually fell in love with and married Boston native Foley, a terrifically talented dining room manager and partner.

“My dream was to have a small mom-and-pop kind of place with really good food, great service, and reasonable prices,” Orfaly said. Both Pigalle and Marco emulate his personality: unpretentious at first glance, interesting and complex as you get to know it.