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Thomas Keller: No, not really. As important as Ruths was, Herbs was the same, the Schmitts. It was a Frenchman, and he would bring me 12 rabbits beautifully dressed every week. When I was in South Florida, I was working in a restaurant called the Caf du Parc. I mean that became the catch phrase. It could be as short as two paragraphs. Theres many ways to entertain yourself without spending a lot of money. The success has motivated me and propelled me forward. And so you have a pastry chef who is responsible for the entire pastry station, right? We are the first chefs, first American chefs in America to receive three stars. So I thought, What better place to celebrate than Taillevent, my first three-star work experience? So I called Taillevent, and of course Jean-Claude Vrinat said, Please, welcome. And I thought, Wow, this may be a great opportunity for me. You had to empty the garbage can three times a day. Maybe it was a plan D as an olive oil purveyor. You had to get the glassware to the bartenders so they could do their job. Lets face it, if youre with friends and family, or your partner, and youre having a wonderful time, your experience is going to be elevated because of the time that youre having with the people that youre with. One of our primary jobs, one of our primary responsibilities is to hire the right people, make sure that the people that were hiring, those individuals, young men and women, are of the right attitude, of the right mindset, have the right skills to enter into our profession. Before we get there, Ruth Reichls article, as important as that was, there was an article prior to that which very few people realize. It was a restaurant that was extraordinarily consistent. His employers there, Pierre and Anne-Marie Latuberne, recommended him to Ren and Paulette Macary, who operated a restaurant of their own, La Rive, in Catskill, New York during the summer season. Theres 12 rabbits in the cage and hes explaining to me in broken English how to kill the rabbit. In 1999, Thomas Keller published The French Laundry Cookbook, which he considers his definitive book on cuisine. How do we respond to that? America had competed since the beginning but never even came close to the podium. If I wasnt, I learned it from her. So in 1980, I planted my first garden. He migrated towards cooking much earlier than I did. And one thing they said, Its not open enough. They were only open four days. He loved food. After his second summer at La Rive, he decided to try his luck in New York City and was hired as chef at Raouls. Michelin came in 2006. Iconic Dishes As time went on and we became more and more popular, we realized that we wanted to add a tasting menu. Soon, he started taking up chef positions at various restaurants in Rhode Island, where he met his mentor and French Master Chef Roland Henin. The story of The French Laundry for me is an incredible story, because everybody who was part of the process, who was part of the evolution, was part of that project, has impacted it in so many different ways. After a third summer at La Rive, he was working at Polo Restaurant in New York City when he finally received a job offer from a restaurant in Arbois in Northeastern France and packed his bags. You made him a real last supper, didnt you? And it was really about Marines and their ability to stalk, their ability to be calm, their ability to pounce quickly and seize their prey. The owner was more like the owner of the restaurant that I worked at when I was in the Catskill at La Rive. That was a Sunday supper, and we had a beautiful time. I didnt recognize it until much later in my career, but I realized it and I understand that was part of the foundation of why I became a good cook and ultimately was able to become a good chef. So we added a vegetable menu, which was seven courses, and we added a tasting menu, which was nine courses. And then you work until 11:00 at night. The chef de partie is a chef who is responsible for a specific station. What happens? So we found, I think, a great sense of comfort being in restaurant kitchens, and thats kind of where I found I dont want to say I found a home, but I found a place where I could feel welcomed. Whats so great about that? Right? Thomas Keller is the first American chef to receive consecutive three-star Michelin ratings for two restaurants. And all you have to do is believe in yourself, be patient, be persistent. Were putting our were composing our dishes in a way theyre going to be compelling for people, but we also have the ability to modify anything we do for somebody who has a dietary restriction or who just doesnt like something. What influence do you think his Marine background might have had on the discipline with which you approach your craft? Prove that you can by acting on it and youll be successful. So thats where I chose to go. We invite those from our veterans home here in Yountville down to experience a meal around a table in a familiar place with food that is nourishing in every way. I was very impatient, and I wanted to go out and explore. A bowl, or whatever the serviceware was, you had a piece set up on the counter, on the drain board, where they were supposed to put it. Ive had some extraordinary honors in my life. We try to limit the choices, relieve the anxiety, and give somebody an experience that then, when they leave the restaurant, its memorable. And those are his two chefs. But Paul Bocuse, who has been an icon in our profession, someone who Ive always looked up to, somebody who changed the way our profession is perceived, somebody whos changed the way we eat, literally changed the way we eat, started a competition, international competition 30 28 years ago to bring the world together on an international level for a culinary competition that resulted in relationship building, in teaching, in awareness and camaraderie, and helping to expand the awareness of our profession around the world. And I was working for a chef who was a presence in and of himself. So at that right moment, in that right period of time, I was able to put my application in and be approved for an SBA loan. You had to sweep the floor at these specific times. Every day after school hed come home and watch Graham Kerr or Julia Child. They believed in me. Keller has written five bestselling cookbooks, starting with The French Laundry Cookbook, and has received Best Chef honors from TIME magazine, the James Beard Foundation and the Culinary Institute of America. [17], In 2012 he announced he was at the point of his career when it was time to step away from the kitchen. But Gourmet magazine picked it up and they thought it was very important. The morel mushrooms, everything was just right, and I didnt appreciate it. But I think his favorite thing to do was really to share time, share moments with the young staff and just tell stories. From the beginning, did you have the idea of doing a tasting menu, rather than a long menu of choices? Did you commit to purchasing it before you raised the money? No. He wanted America to have a better representation at the Bocuse dOr. It was here he discovered his passion for cooking and perfection of the hollandaise sauce. There werent really a lot of people who had aspirations of becoming a chef. So I could focus on more of the details, and I was able to do that. Very few people in our country even knew that there was an American culinary team representing our country in Lyon every two years at this competition of 23 other nations. That year it won three International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) awards for Cookbook of the Year, Julia Child "First Cookbook" Award, and Design Award. It was camaraderie. I was a stagiaire and I was doing a stage, which is, you know, you go into somebodys its almost like its an apprenticeship, if you will. You have lunch. As you mentioned earlier, the 1980s and 90s were a fascinating time for great food in California. So at that time, cooking wasnt as recognized or as popular as it is today. Hes gone. We did everything from the pats to the desserts, and he taught me a great deal. So when we started to think about Thanksgiving here at our restaurant, The French Laundry, when we first opened, we started thinking about that, serving that kind of meal, which was a meal that allowed you to interact with it. D'Artagnan client since 1994. homas Keller needs no introduction. Thomas Keller: La Rive was outside of Catskill. I wanted to see new things. And he would always tell me he would save me a dollar on a basket of strawberries, or he would be able to get an extra couple quarts of milk. What are your core values? And it wasnt something I had thought about before, but within a half an hour, I defined what they were, just because thats how I felt, and thats how most people are. We sat in their kitchen in their house next door. So Per Se was in the forefront of that first launch in New York. In a few years, Kellers restaurants would collectively receive seven stars in a single years Michelin Guide. As much as I would have appreciated and certainly had deep respect to go to France and to receive it at the lyse, I knew right away that I would prefer to have somebody else pin that medal on my chest. Best Restaurant in the World (French Laundry). Its fascinating that theres this underpinning of philosophy beneath the core value of great cuisine, of making it as good as it can possibly be. Cook it by the numbers, following every instruction. And Herb always wrote maybe two or three sentences about an experience he had that he wanted to share. But now I had to actually act on it, that dream, and make it reality. Thomas Keller: There was one other a little less-known chef, who also inspired me and I think a lot of my colleagues, and that was Jean-Louis Palladin. A typical person who wants to be a chef might think, Im going to go study with a really good person in Chicago or New York, or even a really good person in Paris. It jumps, right? Its Jean Luc Naret, who is the director of Michelin. I had moved to a new community, didnt really know anything about the community, felt very uncomfortable again trying to find a home, trying to find a place I could really embrace and be the chef. And of course, what does the rabbit do? A California native, and a renowned perfectionist, Chef Thomas Keller is apprentice-trained, and one of America's most well-known and successful chefs the only American-born one with two restaurants that have received three stars from the Michelin Guide. After the failure of Rakel, you persisted with haute cuisine but you moved to Los Angeles. Im very proud to have been part of this. That was going to be something that was maybe decades away. We would have been on a flight so we would have missed the phone call. In the process I did really I wasnt really privy to the process that you go through but I remember receiving the letter from the President of France telling me that he was proud of the work that I had done in my field and that I deserved to be recognized by the people of France and to receive the Medallion de Legion dHonneur was their way of expressing their gratitude and asking me if I would like to be hosted at the lyse Palace in Paris later that year to receive the medal from him, or to receive the medal from an officer of the Legion dHonneur that was of a higher rank than I was. Its extraordinary what we have available to us and how important our farmers have become. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The multiple Michelin-starred chef (The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon) spent the past five years . And they would just be, you know, they were 50 years younger than he was, and he would just be telling them stories and theyd just be like listening on the edge of their seats, and that was one of the favorite things that he did. Then the hard work of attracting investors began. You had to check the soap every three hours. And there was another friend of mine in Los Angeles who taught me how to use a computer. And of course Bill Wilkinson was very influential in the hotel world because he opened the first boutique hotel in our country, which was Campton Place in San Francisco. The ignorance allowed me to do it. You had to change the water in the dish machine every two hours. The chef's central focus these days are the final touches on what he envisions as the physical representation of the Keller legacy: a nearly $11 million renovation of the kitchen and property at . Of course we had the Culinary Institute of America, which began in the mid-40s after World War II. One of them was off in the Navy. [20] Other cookbooks that he has written or contributed are The Food Lover's Companion to the Napa Valley, Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide, Ad Hoc at Home (2009) and Bouchon Bakery (2012). If you dont, then weve only failed you, we havent failed ourselves, and thats an important thing for us to remember. He told me. How did you come by that vision? You had to have the silverware to the servers so they could set the tables. With Lena Kwak, the research and development chef of The French Laundry, Keller had developed Cup4Cup, a gluten-free flour. It was in the era of Chez Panisse, you know. So between the two of them, they ignited what I believe we have, the resurgence of the farmer, the fisherman, the gardener and the forager. So that was immediate critical feedback. But each day, waking up each day finding some success kept me motivated to the next day. So during the Korean War he was there for two and a half years. Cooking wasnt the question, but could I lead a team better? I needed to have the knowledge and the skill in order to prepare it. Now, before I went to see Bob, you have to realize that I had worked on this business plan, right? And it just didnt happen. He was a woodworking hobbyist. Its reaction is to jump. Come over. And we went and it was an amazing moment to be able to walk into Taillevent, which had such a profound impact on my career, on my philosophy, on the culture that we have, on my skills, on everything in my life. As a teenager, he fell in love with the art of French cooking and learned his craft working in restaurants up and down the East Coast before moving to France to complete his training. I think that kind of sums up my life and what Ive been doing. Not just in the kitchen but in the management positions, in the ownership positions, everywhere that I kind of struggled in the past. Were cooks. In 1994, he set his heart on a converted laundry building in Yountville, in the heart of Californias Napa Valley wine country. But in retrospect it was beautiful. And I realized that my window wasnt covered with dust. He wrote his social column every day. Thomas Keller: I think thats just it. Certainly, working in French kitchens was the same for me. Theyll pick up the food guides. I should have read that before. Not just in the culinary profession, not just in the hospitality profession, but in anything. I left because I was committed to fine dining and ultimately moved to L.A. And unfortunately Rakel failed or Caf Rakel failed two years later. And it really truly is a learning, a place of learning. It was very interesting because the authors were Vincent and Mary Price, and it was their recipes of the great restaurants that they had experienced around the world, and it was this beautifully leather-bound book. It was something that made him really comfortable. Chef Keller began his career in the kitchen of the Palm Beach club managed by his mother, before traveling to France and working at Guy Savoy and Taillevent, among other similarly lauded places. Thomas Kellerdrew closer to the realization ofa longtime dream when hisTeam USA won the silver medal atthe 2015 Bocuse dOr competition in Lyon, France. Born to a marine drill sergeant and a restaurant manager . In 1986 he became co-owner and executive chef of the original Fleur de Lys in San Francisco. We did lunch and dinner. Of course, I thought that because of the things that I learned, and because of the ability to execute what I wanted to do, because of my ability to organize a kitchen, I thought that I was invincible. His book, which was extraordinarily inspiring, was a book of stories. One last question. Take the lobster, do this, this, and this, and add this and this and you have this is what lobster Bohemian is. Thomas Keller: On a trip to Napa Valley one spring day, Jonathan Waxman, who is a friend of mine who had opened a restaurant in New York and now is opening a restaurant here in Napa Valley. Taking his most . Thomas Keller: The books that I read as a kid were mostly adventure books. What we call a stage in an American restaurant, or a stagiaire in a French one, does that literally mean a stager? It was really only on Saturday and Sunday that I kind of had to support myself through eating and/or entertaining myself. You learn a lot from your mistakes. All this was a mystery until the day that you get a phone call. It was a very small kitchen, and it was a beautiful experience because it was what I related to from just returning from France. Its not just about going out to dinner. We were able to expand our staff. One thing that is so fascinating about your biography is your lack of formal culinary education, the lack of a Cordon Bleu certificate. So I had to go back to Serge because I didnt have any money, and I had to ask Serge to satisfy the tax lien, which my portion of it was considerable. It certainly is very gratifying to see the interest now. Over the next few years the restaurant earned numerous awards, including from the James Beard Foundation, gourmet magazines, the Mobil Guide (five stars), and the Michelin Guide (three stars). I think that is really the essence of hospitality, is that you want to give people something that makes them happy, makes them feel good, nourishes them. So we were one of the first restaurants to kind of fail. And I think if I was born with that, I got that from my mother. He took advantage of the traditionalstagiare system in which unpaid apprentices, called stages in English, learn the skills of the classic French kitchen one by one. No reality TV shows. I break its leg. I mean were the mothership, were the foundation of Thomas Keller Restaurant Group and certainly the inspiration for Per Se. Not only on our profession, but on the consumer, and now beginning to have an impact on the way our food is being produced, is being grown, is being delivered, and thats a very important thing for us all. On its list of 50 Best Restaurants in the World, Restaurant magazine named The French Laundry Best Restaurant in the World for two years running. My oldest brother was here at the same time. When you won your first three Michelin stars, you celebrated at Taillevent in Paris. His restaurant was La Pyramide in Valencin (Vienne), France. And you know, waste became a really important part of that learning experience, making sure that you know what? I came up. So he reached in the cage, pulls a rabbit out, both legs, has one of those little baseball clubs, knocks it on its head, pins the rabbit to the side of the barn, slits its throat, dresses the rabbit in about five minutes. Then I think thats what makes our culture so strong. And of course at that time I was very young in my profession and I said, Well, how can I make pasta green? I think one of my investors invested 500, and the one who invested the most I think was 80,000. I guess it was a much safer position for me around the dishwasher, whether it was at that early age, or more importantly, when I began to realize that I wanted to cook, at the Palm Beach Yacht Club. Keller began his career as a professional cook at the Palm Beach Yacht Club in 1974. Youll find a job. Were you a good student? I didnt have a job. Hello, my name is You know, I have this idea of and Id like you to consider it. I guess you also needed to learn who your customers would be. It was him and I in the kitchen with one commis and a dishwasher and of course Anne Marie in the dining room with two or three servers. And he said to me one day, he said, You know, Thomas, the reason cooks cook is really to nurture people. And at that moment that really resonated with me and I said, Wow, I want to become a chef.. Thomas Keller: That they do. When the hotel was sold, Keller clashed with the new owners and found himself again at liberty. We couldnt get prosciutto di Parma because it just wasnt available in this country so we used a dried Virginia ham, which was overly salty. Raoul and Keller, R-A and K-E-L. Teaches Cooking Techniques I: Vegetables, Pasta, and Eggs. So its not just we relate to chef as somebody thats only in the kitchen, but remember, its chef de cuisine, chef of the kitchen, chef of the electricians, chef of the plumbers. [10], Prior to the opening of The French Laundry, Thomas Keller started a small olive oil company called EVO, Inc. in 1992, with his girlfriend of the time, to distribute Provenal-style olive oil and red wine vinegar. I was already cooking now for four years. Thomas Keller: Its interesting because when I was at Taillevent, I had been cooking for quite some time. Chef Thomas Keller is renowned for his culinary skills and high standards. And then of course the following summer I moved to France. Thomas Keller: Restaurants are used in so many different ways. The rabbit screams. So I went to Bobs office with this idea of The French Laundry and hoping that he would be my attorney. I wasnt doing anything. Paul Bocuse was a commis at his restaurant. We respond to that by notching up our game. Thomas Keller: I began my humble career as a dishwasher. Could you give a little definition of how each rank works? So when I was doing my research and asking people in the Valley what they thought about The French Laundry, they all loved it. Thats where the name comes from. There was one farmer who supplied me with my rabbits every week. You know, Everybody wants casual food now. It wasnt so much casual food that they wanted, it was more of a casual price that they really wanted. And he sat us down right at the first table. You're science-oriented. Traditionally, in France, is that an unpaid position? Could I interact better with those around me who influence our restaurants? I went to work at another restaurant in New York called Raphael, and this was theres a lot of Rs in my restaurant history. I had now failed in two restaurants and a chef de cuisineposition or executive chef position at Checkers Hotel. He said, No matter how good of a cook you are, unless theres people in your seats, youre going to fail. Of course I read that after we failed. But more than any of that, we realized a great burden of responsibility, because Ruth, who is an expert in her field, somebody who we all look to, somebody who we all respect, has now called us, literally, the best place or the most exciting place to eat in America. I learned that the ingredients were important. There was a friend here in Napa Valley who was a banker turned vintner who helped me with finance, and who helped me with putting together the financial component of the business plan. Twice named Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant magazine, it was soon joined by other Keller establishments: Bouchon and Ad Hoc in Yountville, and Per Se in New York City. So when they were divorced, that was her path. And he had told me about this small restaurant in Yountville for sale called The French Laundry and I should look into that. And of course if you were successful, then it was positive feedback and you knew that you did a good job. "At some point you want to say, 'I gave, I gave, I gave now it's time for us,'" he said. Im sure my mother bought it for me because of the quality of the book, not necessarily the quality of the content. With just a small four-burner stove with one oven it takes you a long time to prepare dinner. She served me one of the best sandwiches I ever had, which was beef tongue. So we had to have a commercial bank loan. And cheese, the cheese cart always comes by in France, and you have so many selections. An American mega-chef, he is as renowned for his culinary skills as he is for his ability to establish a restaurant that is relaxed, yet refined and exciting. Keller was full of new ideas he was eager to implement, but he and the owner did not agree, and Keller moved to a smaller restaurant, Raphael, which he found far more congenial. Thomas Keller: We used to think about luxury as choices, right. So we have a sous-chef thats responsible for canaps and fish for example. And hell tell the story that he is part American because he has American blood running through his veins. No. For three years he wrote to restaurants all over France. And now Im left, because now I have to without his help or his guidance is butcher these other 11 rabbits. Our job is to mentor and train the next generation of superstars, of franchise players, if you will. Then youd have a sous-chef. They had saved their money and they opened a restaurant called the Cobbley Nob. No one told you those things. Chef Thomas Keller takes a seat just outside the wall of windows enclosing his new kitchen, the centrepiece of The French Laundry's $10 million renovation, while inside about a dozen cooks smoothly begin preparations for evening service, when the performance will begin all over again, as it has for 23 years. And its up to that organization or that chef to define what youll do. It was kind of this magical place, and I just felt an instant connection to it. And I always say my biggest asset at the time was my ignorance. I became the chef de cuisine of La Reserve, which is on 49th Street. I mean it was such an emotional experience I didnt know what to do, because the rabbit screamed so loud that Paulette, the wife of the owner, came out of the house their house was just maybe 50 yards away thinking something had happened. Or we could stay in Paris, maybe get a phone call, but miss the celebration in New York. It was considered one of the best restaurants in the world. When he was hired as chef de cuisine at La Reserve, he was the first American to lead one of New Yorks distinguished French restaurants. It was part of our culture, part of our philosophy, part of the philosophy that we had embraced from Don and Sally Schmitt. I had committed myself since 1977 to make this my career. It was a narrative. He recognized a certain talent in me and he wanted to open a restaurant with me so we opened Rakel. We did everything. I had left Checkers. It was a normal thing and it still is today. What culinary values and service values did you learn? [4] Four years after his parents divorced, the family moved east and settled in Palm Beach, Florida. So at the time I was born he was stationed in Camp Pendleton, which is right near Oceanside in California. What college did you attend for that short while? I think its discipline. Were all in it together, and we all have to support one another. Everybody was doing casual dining. Did your mother or father support your culinary ambitions? Shortly after, he opened a second Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay. As I grew older, I realized the benefit of a good education, and I continue to try to educate myself today. Its this whole process, which has really kind of made it really difficult for us to have a proper stage in the kitchen. You got one more to go.. And then of course the famous dish that they did, which I saw so many times, was the saddle of lamb rognonade, which means that its the saddle of lamb stuffed with its kidneys, served with pommes pures on the side and asparagus. It was fascinating, and again certainly we were very proud and honored. The throwback restaurant had been opened in March 2019, and had been his first New York restaurant in 15 years.[19]. Thomas Keller: I dont know the literal translation of it, but its an observer. In our country we had very few. Right. Under Henin's study, Keller learned the fundamentals of classical French cooking. Returning to Florida, he opened his first restaurant, the Cobbley Nob, with two partners in West Palm Beach. Originally intended to be a temporary project while Keller planned his lifelong dream restaurant for the location, serving hamburgers and wine,[9] he decided to make ad hoc permanent and find a new location for the hamburger restaurant due to its popularity. Pierre was in the kitchen Ann-Marie was in the dining room and I became his sous-chef. Sample. The idea of service is so pertinent to both worlds, military and culinary.