Page 45 - Demo

Keller also refuses to be de ned as a west coast chef, despite making his name there. ‘We’re not talking about California cuisine or East Coast cuisine, that’s not part of our lexicon. We talk about a true basis of what we do in a philosophical way that’s really based on the way that I think about food. A large majority of it’s based in classic French cuisine and trying to make sure that we’re able to execute it better than they did 100 years ago, or 50 years ago because we have better ingredients, we have better skills, we have better equipment, we have better technology’.
Despite his close ties to France (he spent a year in the early 80’s staging around some of the nest restaurants in the country including Taillevent, Guy Savoy and Le Pré Catelan in Paris and was personally asked by Paul Bocuse himself to lead an American team to the Bocuse d’Or, ‘, ‘In all honesty, if Paul called you and said, “I want you to do this,” you would have a hard time saying no’), Keller is at heart an American chef.
During our interview, he talks eloquently and in detail about the history and evolution of American cuisine, from the French Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York in 1939 to Jacquie Kennedy bringing the rst French chef to the White House and the in uence of major gures such as like Julia Child, Chuck Williams (of Williams Sonoma), and Robert Mondavi and his own close ties to the country’s indigenous produce and the people behind it.
‘I don’t call them suppliers, I call them partners. Building relationships with those farmers, those sherman, those foragers and those gardeners is really the foundation for any great restaurant. That’s why I’ve rarely done anything outside of our country because ingredients are such an important part of what we do. I’ve been offered things in London and been very attered by some of the people who’ve offered it to me, but there’s just no reason for me to go there. Anything that I would do there would be something that other people have done. The chefs in the UK have already built relationships with those farmers and sherman and foragers and gardeners to get the best ingredients. How can I expect to leap-frog over ten of my colleagues just because I’m Thomas Keller?’
For many chefs around the world, three Michelin stars is the ultimate goal, something Keller has achieved twice over, and yet, although he sees the Michelin guide as ‘credible’, Keller doesn’t de ne himself in their terms alone.
‘Michelin didn’t come to our country until 12 years ago. My entire life before that was not based on anything about Michelin, other than looking at those great chefs of the past years and trying to live up to a little bit of the example that they set. Whether you’re a three-star chef, or a one-star chef or a no-star chef, the fact that you’re giving your guests a memory that they take with them, for hopefully a long time, that is the true meaning of success, irregardless of accolades or rewards. It’s really about that ability to nurture others in a way that gives them a great sense of comfort, of joy, of excitement and affection. I think that’s really what we try to do mostly, as chef’s, is nurture people. How do you summarize what it takes to be a three-star chef? I think it’s a true sense of wanting to make people happy’. · Chef
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