And of course the lunch and dinner in the same day, it really worked for me. And yes, there are some restaurants around the world that would use a stage in an inappropriate way by making him stand in the corner and peel potatoes for three months, but a true stage in a restaurant that has integrity and understands their responsibility and the purpose of a stage gives you a great opportunity to learn. And that training goes on not for two weeks or two months, but that training goes on the entire time that theyre with us. So I had a little bit of savings. Thomas Keller Chef & Proprietor of Restaurants by Thomas Keller and Founder of Regiis Ova Caviar "Success, for me, is not about fortune or fame. Organization as a dishwasher really meant that you had to set up a template for the servers to, you know, where to put their dishes. I became the chef of Raouls, which was, at the time an outpost in what became SoHo on Prince Street, and it was a classic, classic, French bistro in every way, and it was wonderful. Oysters and Pearls. Thats just what you do. [13] The former French Laundry Chef de Cuisine Timothy Hollingsworth won the Bocuse d'Or USA semi-finals in 2008, and represented the U.S. in the world finals in January 2009 under Keller's supervision where he placed 6th, equaling the best performance of the U.S. in the contest to date. Youre only doing it because you love the person and because youre responsible for the person and because thats what you do. You had to do different things at different times of the day, which began which were part of the ritual of your job. And to be able to walk into that restaurant as the first American to receive three Michelin stars and be embraced by Mr. Vrinat, who I have until the day he died had such a profound respect for. Especially in California. We were of course very flattered. But the next summer, when spring came around, Ren called me and asked me if I wanted to come back to La Rive, and because that was such a bucolic experience for me, it was so familiar, they were like my second parents, I moved back to Catskill for that third summer. So in 1980, I planted my first garden. I think that kind of sums up my life and what Ive been doing. With more than 1.5 million copies of his cookbooks in print, he is the author of six cookbooks, including the recently released,The French Laundry, Per Se. I had committed myself since 1977 to make this my career. I mean if youre having dinner you should be thinking about what youre eating. What college did you attend for that short while? Now Ive got this rabbit thats got a broken leg, and Ive got to kill it and dress it. Our job is to mentor and train the next generation of superstars, of franchise players, if you will. Thomas Keller: I think people take it for granted that were just cooks in a kitchen, or youre just servers serving food, or youre just a sommelier serving wine. Thomas Keller: Rakel. When I started to cook, the first cookbook that I received was from my mother, and she gave me a cookbook called A Treasury of Great Recipes. Those were things that he was familiar with so and just telling stories. We respond to that by notching up our game. The first half of the book was a book of stories, a book about his restaurant, his experience, his guests, his wife, his team, his chef. So we had to have a commercial bank loan. He's the role model, the icon". Its extraordinary what we have available to us and how important our farmers have become. Many times the advice was, Well just go. It was part of our culture, part of our philosophy, part of the philosophy that we had embraced from Don and Sally Schmitt. Of course there were the schools, some schools in France, but they were mostly focused on consumers, mostly housewives on vacation who wanted to learn how to cook, as Julia Child certainly did when she went to Le Cordon Bleu. He provided an introduction or foreword to The Vineyard Kitchen: Menus Inspired by the Seasons by Maria Helm Sinskey, "Happy in the Kitchen" by Michel Richard, "Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts" by Claire Clark (head pastry chef at The French Laundry), the new publication of "Ma Gastronomie" by Fernand Point, "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" by Micheal Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. It was the first American restaurant to receive this honor. Learn techniques for cooking vegetables and eggs and making pastas from scratch from the award-winning chef and proprietor of The French Laundry. And three days later I packed my bag early in the morning and I snuck out the door and caught the train and went to Paris and ended up staying at a friends apartment for almost two years and literally knocking on peoples doors for a job. We converted the restaurant into Caf Rakel. As a dishwasher you do the same thing over and over and over and over again. 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. Chef Keller led a team from the U.S. to its first-ever gold medal in theBocuse dOr, a prestigious biannual competition that is regarded as the Olympics of the culinary world. I had much more control over it. Then I think thats what makes our culture so strong. Why Do His Michelin Stars Make Him Unique? Why was it produced in that part of Italy? Back to the first cookbook you received as a gift from your mom. And then of course the following summer I moved to France. The entire pastry production, the entire pastry service, working with the chef de cuisine on the philosophy of the pastry. In the next few years, Keller would pursue his interest in French cooking, developing close relationships with the cooks and proprietors of French restaurants in his own country while applying for jobs in France. Do you relate your attraction to the discipline and camaraderie of the kitchen to your fathers career as a Marine? And rituals are very, very, very important. And of course the chefs. What gives you that idea? So that organizational aspect allowed you to be more efficient, which was kind of the second discipline that I learned is efficiency was really, really key in doing things well. It was about that physical activity that was so compelling for me. It took 19 months to raise the money to purchase the place, but in 1994 he opened his restaurant, The French Laundry, and quickly made it a destination for gourmets and connoisseurs from all over the world. There he worked under the French chef Roland Henin, who inspired him to master the exacting art of French haute cuisine. Feedback was the third discipline. The two would work so closely together that within a year she had moved in with him in the house behind the restaurant, and the couple have become partners in life as well as business. The new restaurant features intimate dining rooms with a fireplace, live music, lush greenery, a glass-enclosed conservatory room, an outdoor terrace and a lounge, with a Bouchon Bakery on the same floor. Its so repetitive. But it was such a wonderful moment that lasted for days afterwards, because you had all the leftovers. I had already closed two restaurants. Keller loved the location, and thought the little town in the heart of Californias wine country would be the perfect place to practice the fusion of tradition and innovation he had long imagined. We had never when I say we, Im talking about the community of chefs who have always aspired to be of that quality, not necessarily ever achieving those stars, but to be of that quality. In France, Keller formed a friendship with the legendary chef Paul Bocuse, sponsor of the Bocuse dOr competition, the Olympics of international cooking. In past interviews youve speculated that perhaps some people are born with a gene for hospitality. And as time went on we realized that we started selling more and more tasting menus. It was here he discovered his passion for cooking and perfection of the hollandaise sauce. I was also developing my relationship with farmers, with foragers, with gardeners, with fishermen from around the area. As much as he was satisfied, he said, Youre not quite there yet. The sandwich resembles a typical BLT, with the addition of a fried egg. And the kitchen that I was in was nothing like any kitchens that I had been in in America. And the level of the success or the result of the recipe was based on your current ability. It was on West 45th Street in West Palm Beach, right next door to the jai-alai fronton. So in reality, from my point of view and the way I interpret this is, it allowed that recipe to be yours and he told you in a narrative how to prepare it. Thomas Keller grew up in the restaurant business, in Palm Beach, Florida, working his way up from dishwasher to cook. He had dinner at The French Laundry and he wrote three paragraphs about The French Laundry. You work through service. We are only as good as those who come after us. In my lifetime, in my career, Ive watched it grow from its infancy to where it is today, for good and for bad. On a 1992 visit to the Napa Valley, he was introduced to Don and Sally Schmitt, owners of a small restaurant in Yountville, a small town in the heart of the wine-growing region. An attorney in Los Angeles named Bob Sutcliffe, who I was introduced to by way of Joachim Splichal, Bob was an attorney who did, on the side, restaurant deals. On February 16, 2004, Keller's much-anticipated Per Se restaurant opened in the Time Warner Center complex in New York under the helm of Keller's Chef de Cuisine, Jonathan Benno. It was a wonderful restaurant. Thomas Keller: My mother passed away, unfortunately, by the time I went to France. They served me pigeon and peas with morel mushrooms. A community college in Palm Beach. On behalf of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chef Paul Bocuse presented Keller as a Chevalier of The French Legion of Honor in 2011 in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the traditions of French cuisine and his role in elevating cooking in America. It was a narrative. So they do this extraordinary blini there. He loved chefs. And of course as a white, middle-class, educated American, I wasnt on the top of the list of somebody the SBA was going to give money to. From there, he honed his skills at the heart of Thomas Keller's Restaurant Group, rising from a sous chef at Per Se to the executive pastry chef at both Per Se and Bouchon Bakery within a mere two years. And if theyre not better than you, then you havent done a very good job. Visitors to Napa brought word back to San Francisco, where favorable mention in the press drew interest from even farther away. No problem. So we were always trying to fill the books in with his reservations. 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. What do you say to any chef? Patience, and perseverance, are a virtue. Thats what he wanted. That rabbit, which gave up its life, I had to make sure that I utilized it in the best way I could and every bit of it. 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. If you dont, then weve only failed you, we havent failed ourselves, and thats an important thing for us to remember. Im not sure which one. He enjoyed nothing more I think what he enjoyed the most when he would come out here with us and spend summers here, and ultimately moved here, was actually getting in line for dinner with the team every night at staff meal. I think thats more of what I meant. Roast chicken and a salad of fresh lettuces with a simple vinaigrette. Thomas Keller: We used to think about luxury as choices, right. TIME magazine named him Americas Best Chef in 2001. I had now failed in two restaurants and a chef de cuisineposition or executive chef position at Checkers Hotel. When Thomas Keller says he's built a better chocolate bar, it's worth tasting the results. So thats where I chose to go. He also holds an honorary doctorate in culinary arts from The . And of course that catapulted us to again be financially successful, which allowed us now to commit our resources in so many different ways. [6], Following the split with his partner at Rakel, Keller took various consultant and chef positions in New York and Los Angeles. Thomas Keller: Well, we all learn that. That was going to be something that was maybe decades away. Following the failure of the Cobbley Nob, Keller became sous-chef at Caf du Parc in West Palm Beach. Theres bronze, silver and gold. He knew San Francisco in and out. You knew when you did a bad job and you knew when you did a good job. Thomas Keller: No. A lot of other people might have said, Maybe I was too ambitious.. We have to give them training. To expand his knowledge, he joined Compagnons du Devoir, an artisans' organization that offers technical education through tours and apprenticeships with masters. He had a friend, Ren Macary and his wife, Paulette, who owned a restaurant in Catskill, New York outside of the town of Catskill, New York. In the same way that our U.S. Olympic athletes represent our country, we feel the same way in our profession. When the hotel was sold, Keller clashed with the new owners and found himself again at liberty. Its like, Wow, I can choose any one of these pillows. But which one really is the best? 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. 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. He migrated towards cooking much earlier than I did. Now, before I went to see Bob, you have to realize that I had worked on this business plan, right? There werent really a lot of people who had aspirations of becoming a chef. And I always say my biggest asset at the time was my ignorance. They feel the responsibility to them. We did so many different things. The Spanglish sandwich", "Chef Thomas Keller on Why Food Isn't The Point Of a Restaurant", "Bay Area flavors food tale: For its new film 'Ratatouille,' Pixar explored our obsession with cuisine", "Thomas Keller - Teaches Cooking Techniques I: Vegetables, Pasta, and Eggs at masterclass.com", "Thomas Keller - Teaches Cooking Techniques II: Meats, Stocks, and Sauces", "Thomas Keller - Teaches Cooking Techniques III: Seafood, Sous Vide, and Desserts", "The James Beard Foundation Awards Presents 1996 Winners", "The 1998 Bon Apptit Awards: Chef of the Year", "The S. Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants in the World, 2003", "S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, 2004", "S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, 2005", "S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, 2006", "S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, 2007", "S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, 2008", "Winners Announced For 2005 James Beard Foundation Awards", "Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor for Thomas Keller", "American chef Keller to be admitted into French Legion of Honor", "Thomas Keller The S.Pellegrino Lifetime Achievement Award Winner 2012", "Thomas Keller wins Lifetime Achievement Award", "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", Google Authors: Thomas Keller: May 19, 2009, 60 Minutes: Inside Thomas Keller's Restaurants: November 20, 2011, 60 Minutes: Visiting the Theater of the Mouth: February 11, 2009, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Keller&oldid=1142852191. Even though I hadnt spent a lot of time with my father growing up, in my early 20s I made a reconnection with him and certainly we rekindled our relationship and he was very supportive, even though he didnt understand what I did. 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. It comes out in a beautiful pan. The latest restaurant, "ad hoc", opened in September 2006 in Yountville with a different fixed price comfort food dinner served family style every night. It changed, whatever the seasons brought, whatever the vegetables were. Testosterone is raging and youre with all these its a group. We fell to tenth. It creates an anxiety in you actually. Thats really a different mentality, isnt it, than ordering off a big menu? We did everything. Is that hierarchy something that you observed in France? Thomas Keller: Restaurants are used in so many different ways. How could we be worthy of a Michelin star or two? Chef Bios: Thomas Keller. His flagship restaurant, The French Laundry, has been called the best in the world (twice), he's created an empire but maintained his impermeable brand and he's the only American chef to have been simultaneously awarded three Michelin Stars at two different restaurants. And its up to that organization or that chef to define what youll do. And I arrived at the front door and a large matronly woman met me and she was very harsh, and she took me up to my room, which was this small cubicle with a window, but the window was covered with dust, which I thought was dust. Keller has joked in the past that the motivation for Bouchon's opening was to give him somewhere to eat after work at The French Laundry. Were they going to be Americans? And thats something that comes very much from military. And he flies the American flag above his restaurant. And were watching Philips name being inserted into the walkway that leads up to the front door: Philip Tessier, U.S.A.. Theres now 13 rows of gold, silver, bronze plaques with peoples names on them. You, as a dishwasher, even though you may have been perceived as the lowliest position in a kitchen, you touched everybody, and your job was critical in their ability to be successful. This dish is featured on both the menus at Per Se and The French Laundry, a dish that has stayed on the menus since it was created and one we fully expect to remain there. She and her husband Don purchased the building in 1978 and converted it into a restaurant. And about midnight he finished about midnight and he came back to the kitchen and I was standing in the box in our little office in the kitchen, the chefs office, and I was cleaning, doing my nightly cleaning rituals. And then the second half of the book were recipes, but not recipes like we recognize today. But no, you went to work in the best restaurants. So thats what we do. You know, this is truly an extraordinary moment in American culinary history. In 1999, Thomas Keller published The French Laundry Cookbook, which he considers his definitive book on cuisine. It was in the era of Chez Panisse, you know. He studied briefly at Palm Beach Junior College but knew his real education would come by working at the best restaurants he could find. I wanted to have a large group of people, because of my experience at Rakel. I had been fired from another. I said, Im never going to do that again. Tell us about the Thanksgiving dinner you do at Bouchon. Of course we want to make our restaurants better, but our overarching goal is to elevate the standards of our profession, and we do that by training, by mentoring, by giving the skills and knowledge to those next generations, so that they can not only help us in our restaurants but then go out and be impactful in other restaurants, and of course hopefully one day open their own restaurants. Raoul and Keller, R-A and K-E-L. Of course it became one of those stories that, if it was today, it would have gone viral, but back in those days we didnt have what we have today. Im sure my mother bought it for me because of the quality of the book, not necessarily the quality of the content. It could be as short as two paragraphs. Chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller says his mother was his first mentor. And I think thats very important, certainly in a kitchen as well as other places in many professions where theres this instant command response. And to keep herself busy, and of course to supply some income for the family, she worked in restaurants. You opened your own restaurant in New York in 1986. And it was interesting, because at the time of the announcement, Laura and I were in France for I believe it was a Traditions et Qualit conference, which is a French association that we belong to. It was because of the excitement of working with a team of peers and that physical activity of being on a team. So on Thanksgiving day at Bouchon, thats what we do. So it just became a natural evolution for us to do away with the five-course menu because 80 percent of our guests were choosing the nine courses, and 20 percent were choosing the 40 others. I wanted to travel. Thomas Keller is a man who needs no introduction. Keller served as a consultant on the feature film Spanglish, and in collaboration with restaurant designer Adam D. Tihany, created K + T, a collection of silver hardware and cocktail ware for Christofle Silversmiths. And typically in the day she would work at the Officers Club as a hostess or a waitress, working her way up to understanding how to manage a restaurant. Is there a connection between the fact that you got a book of recipes from the worlds great restaurants and then decided to go and apprentice in France, in the worlds great restaurants? When I wrote The French Laundry Cookbook, it was an important story for me to tell. 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. Its popularity waned as the stock market bottomed out and at the end of the 1980s, Keller left, unwilling to compromise his style of cooking to simple bistro fare. For movie audiences, a rat with culinary aspirations might be. So yes, I primarily lived with my mother, and my grandmother for a little while as well, and my great aunts. I had been reading about this restaurant for years. I became a chef there and moved to Los Angeles. It didnt matter if you were doing fine dining, family dining. Right. [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. Rakel's refined French cuisine catered to the expensive tastes of Wall Street executives and received a two-star review from The New York Times. You never say no to the chef, right? As you mentioned earlier, the 1980s and 90s were a fascinating time for great food in California. Turned me down primarily not because there wasnt value in the property, but because I had a tax lien in New York City, and this tax lien was based on our failure at Rakel. They had enjoyed several years of modest success but were now looking to sell their business. profession evolve as American masters like Thomas Keller rise, and watch the genesis of a "chef nation" as these culinary pioneers crisscross the country to open restaurants and collaborate on special events, and legendary hangouts like Blue Ribbon become social focal points, all as the industry-altering Food Network shimmers on the horizon. You prepared it in the way you could at that time with the ingredients that you had, and the knowledge and skills that you had at the moment, and it evolved with you. Oh, what difference does it make? She became a restaurant manager. You prepare for lunch. So we chose to stay in Paris because the phone call would have I mean to miss a phone call as being one of the first Michelin starred restaurants in America, being one of the first American chefs to receive potentially a Michelin star would have been too much of a I think of a moment in my life that Id want to give up. And they wanted hot dogs and hamburgers. Its reaction is to jump. Per Se, which was designed from scratch and custom-built as part of the overall construction process, was an immediate hit on the New York restaurant scene, with reservations booked months in advance and publications including The New Yorker and The New York Times giving rave reviews.