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. Most of the kitchens that I worked in always have the chef, the sous-chefs, the chef de parties, the commis, and thats a very hierarchical system where everybody looks at the chef for the direction, the sous-chefs to implement it, you know, the chef de cuisines to perform it, and the commis to support it. 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. We just received three stars. In 2011, Keller opened branches of Bouchon Bakery in Beverly Hills and in New Yorks Rockefeller Center. It would seem Chef Thomas Keller would have reason to be satisfied. Its really refreshing to see how much thats changed in a short period of time, in 35, 40 years. So this idea of smoking your own salmon, or this idea of making your own ketchup, which was really popular at this period of time, didnt necessarily result in something that was better than the guy in Scotland whose family has been curing and smoking salmon for generations. It was a wonderful restaurant. I had now failed in two restaurants and a chef de cuisineposition or executive chef position at Checkers Hotel. 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. It had been here for a long time. I gathered everybody around and I said, I think were going to have a great day tomorrow, so we opened a glass of champagne. Keller took a $5,000 cash advance on his credit card to retain an attorney who helped him structure a private placement offering. That same year, the bible of international food connoisseurs, the Guide Michelin, paid its first visit to New York and awarded Kellers Per Se its highest rating: three stars. [12], Keller is the president of the Bocuse d'Or U.S. team and was responsible for recruiting and training the 2009 candidates. Now our core values can be related to a lot of different people some of them defining the same way, others not necessarily but they understand them. But you know, just standing there watching this beautiful, elegant, ferocious animal was something that was very captivating. Im sure my mother bought it for me because of the quality of the book, not necessarily the quality of the content. Many residents and visitors to the area were lovers of fine wine and well-versed in contemporary trends in fine dining. And in his own way he enlightened us in the same way that Alice did in being able to encourage chefs to reconnect to the suppliers that are bringing us those extraordinary ingredients. And thats something that comes very much from military. Double boiler, single boiler? It was not very appetizing, but you already made the commitment to do it, right, so you had to follow through and you had to serve it and you had to take kind of the feedback, the critical feedback, and just say, Okay, yeah, I made a mistake. And really mistakes are such important building blocks for success. Everybody read Herb Caen whether you liked food or not. 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. Thomas was considered too young to work as a cook so he started as a dishwasher. The businessmen who had constituted the base of their clientele went looking for lower-price, more casual dining options until the economy recovered. Who was going to be their inspectors? We went to the local markets all the time. I graduated high school. There was one farmer who supplied me with my rabbits every week. But there is a lot of work being done certainly in the past 20, 25 years that has helped us as a profession to really have an impact. What happens? I learned that the ingredients were important. 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. I dont want to say the art of repetition, but the ability to respect repetition and embrace it. I had committed myself since 1977 to make this my career. So the lobster Bohemian came out the way you interpreted it at that time. Thomas Keller is a man who needs no introduction. Chef Keller led a team from the U.S. to its first-ever gold medal in the Bocuse d'Or, a prestigious biannual competition that is regarded as the Olympics of the culinary world. 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. Thomas Keller grew up in the restaurant business, in Palm Beach, Florida, working his way up from dishwasher to cook. 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. And those are his two chefs. 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. Pierre ran the kitchen. Its not just about getting something to eat. 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. Well, I could choose, you know, you go to a hotel and you had six pillows to choose from. 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. With just a small four-burner stove with one oven it takes you a long time to prepare dinner. Thomas Keller: Well first, thank you very much for that wonderful compliment. So you know, I did different things in different kitchens, because each chef needed a stagiaire in a different way. [17], In 2012 he announced he was at the point of his career when it was time to step away from the kitchen. You were actually born on the West Coast. A chef in France is the head of a specific area. And so that was over 400 people I called during that period of time. We were able to expand our staff. You know, this is truly an extraordinary moment in American culinary history. We finally achieved what we promised, to reach the podium. It jumps, right? I was a year-and-a-half younger, therefore I had to be set in front of the dishwasher. Entertainment was going to the Beaubourg and taking a French lesson in the audio class downstairs, or going to the museums or walking around Paris. Thomas Keller: I think that was in 1977. But I think his favorite thing to do was really to share time, share moments with the young staff and just tell stories. Chefs use science to develop their food preparation techniques and invent new methods of cooking. The demographics were very important in that process, which we just totally threw out the window, or we just miscalculated. 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. The specific details of the recipe do matter. Not necessarily. My first three-star experience in France was just like that. In the same way that our U.S. Olympic athletes represent our country, we feel the same way in our profession. I thought, If Im going to do this, I need to do it now. And I went back to Los Angeles. You dont know. 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. We changed every day. Theyll pick up the food guides. Many times the advice was, Well just go. And it was just one of those magical moments. Thomas Keller: I dont know if its a hospitality gene as much as its a nurturing gene. I learned how to share with them. I had partnered with two male flight attendants who wanted to open a restaurant. He liked that. Youre only doing it because you love the person and because youre responsible for the person and because thats what you do. If I was going to make a career, if I was going to be successful in my chosen vocation, I needed to raise this money. That truly defines our success. And great restaurants have to be consistent. And its up to that organization or that chef to define what youll do. 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. Iconic Dishes And I want you to know that were committed and dedicated to this honor, to this award, to this achievement, and well do our best to maintain the reputation of a three-star restaurant in America. And then we were with where are we going to celebrate? Roast chicken and a salad of fresh lettuces with a simple vinaigrette. It was familiar to him. TIME magazine named him Americas Best Chef in 2001. And he had told me about this small restaurant in Yountville for sale called The French Laundry and I should look into that. I spent three summers there: 1980, 81 and 82. In France, Keller formed a friendship with the legendary chef Paul Bocuse, sponsor of the Bocuse dOr competition, the Olympics of international cooking. And hell tell the story that he is part American because he has American blood running through his veins. Im very proud to have been part of this. Thomas Keller: A commis is the lowest position that you would enter when you enter a kitchen. Not everybody knows it like that. He is the first and only American-born chef to hold multiple three-star ratings from the prestigious Michelin Guide, as well as the first American male chef to be designated a Chevalier of The French Legion of Honor. What is the chef cooking today? So when you go into a restaurant like The French Laundry and you have to make a choice, its like, What do I choose? Right? 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. Well, it was covered with dust, but it was covered with soot, with coal dust. We built our new kitchen. So yes, I primarily lived with my mother, and my grandmother for a little while as well, and my great aunts. Thomas Keller: I wish I could say there were, but no. It does. I was also developing my relationship with farmers, with foragers, with gardeners, with fishermen from around the area. Thomas Keller: Restaurants are used in so many different ways. So that they could plate the food. It was a young chef from The French Laundry, Timothy Hollingsworth. In 2013 we raised to ninth. 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. His old friend, Chef Paul Bocuse, presented Keller with the Legions medallion in a 2011 ceremony in New York City. Keller started out young in the field of cooking and culinary skills - in fact, his love for cooking surfaced when he once worked as a chef at his mother's restaurant in Florida. 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. When Thomas Keller says he's built a better chocolate bar, it's worth tasting the results. It was such a moment for us because we represented our country. There were not that many great chefs recognized other than some of the great chefs of France. And Michelin first launched in New York City. 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. I went to work at another restaurant in New York called Raphael, and this was theres a lot of Rs in my restaurant history. In the years that followed, Keller and Cunningham expanded their operations in a number of directions simultaneously with new restaurants and manufacturing ventures. Traditionally, in France, is that an unpaid position? As I grew older, I realized the benefit of a good education, and I continue to try to educate myself today. No reality TV shows. AllRightsReserved. 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. Fortunately, my persistence paid off and I had eight different stages in observation, permission to have observation at a restaurant. Cooking wasnt the question, but could I lead a team better? So I set my sights high. He had dinner at The French Laundry and he wrote three paragraphs about The French Laundry. 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. And I realized that my window wasnt covered with dust. In 1999, Thomas Keller published The French Laundry Cookbook, which he considers his definitive book on cuisine. Thomas Keller: Michelin announced that they were going to come to America. June 13, 2007 FOR someone who works in a restaurant, watching a rat try to become a chef might seem like just another day at work. Success is about giving to our team, our guests, our friends and family and community through time and commitment, advice and mentoring. My saving grace when I moved to Paris was my friend Serge Raoul, who allowed me to stay at his apartment. And he said, Okay, this is how much this is going to cost you. And I said, You know, Bob, I really dont have any money, but I have this olive oil. I put this olive oil on his desk and I told him about this olive oil and what I was doing with it and The French Laundry and all this. They feel the responsibility to them. He has also attached his name to a set of signature knives manufactured by MAC. It was a restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida. As much as he was satisfied, he said, Youre not quite there yet. It was a narrative. 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. Philip Tessier, who was a young chef, our sous-chef at French Laundry, formed a team and made the challenge. In our kitchen, for example, we have a sous-chef that would be what we call the A.M. Thomas Keller: We became friends. You had your different areas for your knives, your forks, your spoons, things like that. He started his culinary journey young -- at 15, he was already working as an apprentice pastry chef at the Relais of Poitiers hotel. Kon Tiki, things like that. 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. The Schmitts wanted $1.2 million for their business, and Keller had nothing resembling that kind of money, but they agreed to take $5,000 from Keller to hold in escrow while he returned to Los Angeles to raise the money he needed. Pierre was in the kitchen Ann-Marie was in the dining room and I became his sous-chef. For movie audiences, a rat with culinary aspirations might be. Thomas Keller: Fortunately, for those three years I was trying to find somebody to commit to giving me a job, I was also saving my money. We had a beautiful time on the back porch of our house, and that Monday night, the next night, he passed away. We won silver. I think that kind of sums up my life and what Ive been doing. The chef was highly regarded, three Michelin stars. He opened the restaurant for more days of the week and gradually evolved a policy of offering two nine-course tasting menus, one vegetable-based, and a second based on animal protein. So if you dont want to be repetitive in what youre doing, you probably dont want to really be a cook. All this was a mystery until the day that you get a phone call. Once again, things got off to a good start, and Keller enjoyed making friends with colleagues in the West Coast restaurant scene. 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. And they wanted hot dogs and hamburgers. Paul tells a lovely story about when he was a young man in The French Resistance being wounded and being taken to an American military hospital, American field military hospital and being given a blood transfusion. 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. Recently, Keller started marketing a line of signature white Limoges porcelain dinnerware by Raynaud called Hommage Point (in homage to French chef and restaurateur, Fernand Point) that he helped and a collection of silver hollow ware by Christofle. One of the first employees to sign on was a young woman named Laura Cunningham, a Berkeley graduate with some experience in the Napa restaurant scene. After three years at La Rive, unable to buy it from the owners, he left and moved to New York and then Paris, apprenticing at various Michelin-starred restaurants. Why didnt I choose to go to school? He is also featured in "My Last Supper" by Melanie Dunea. Youve done a lot of beautiful service for veterans here in this area. I have to say that period of my life and that period of my career in France was so, so important to who I am today and really helped me understand a lot of things about running a restaurant that have supported my career and my success. I wasnt convinced that I was just going to travel to France and knock on somebodys door, but in reality thats actually what happened. He actually sat with us, and his wife Sabine told me as we were leaving, she said, You know, Ive never seen my husband ever, ever sit down with anybody in this restaurant. He sat with us for about five minutes and chatted. He studied briefly at Palm Beach Junior College but knew his real education would come by working at the best restaurants he could find. Rakel was in an area called Hudson Square in Manhattan, not too far from SoHo, not too far from the Village, but an area which was unheard of, and so we found a space there. And you never know. Thomas Keller: Every morning there was a ritual where I would wake up and I would call my list of people asking them for money. Remember, it wasnt that long that we missed it. I understood it. Not everything changed every day, but the menu changed every day. Living It Is Harder. And that became my inspiration every morning, because I had a dream to buy The French Laundry. So I stayed in New York for about a year looking for something to do, never really finding anything. Everybody became more frugal during that time, as they do always in times of uneasiness and disruption in our economic climate. Thomas Keller: Herb Caen was a great writer. We have to be able to give them options but restrict their initial choice to something that we believe they would enjoy. It began in 1985 when I returned from France. So that was a mistake I made that I never made again, and I learned from that. And he said, Oh, and by the way, Bouchon got one.. I learned the importance of ritual, doing things at specific times of the day and having them leading up to those times, and being prepared for those times. They served me pigeon and peas with morel mushrooms. After World War II the men came back and the women stayed at work and that spawned the convenience food generation, which was us. Thomas Keller: Per Se. The French Laundry was open almost at the same time that Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse. The next day in the Lyon newspaper, the headlines: Pauls Dream Realized: America Reaches the Podium., Thomas Keller: We got silver. Not just in the culinary profession, not just in the hospitality profession, but in anything. It was about Pauls dream realized, America reaches the podium. Our second challenge was in 2011. But not only did I have to raise money from private partners, I had to buy the property. It was about three-and-a-half years of trying to find somebody in France that was actually going to commit to giving me a job before I actually left America. I believe in you, but I need something. Yes. 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. Under Henin's study, Keller learned the fundamentals of classical French cooking. After The Dunes Club, Keller worked various cooking positions in Florida and soon became the cook at a small French restaurant called La Rive in the Hudson River valley in Catskill, New York. I could only hope for the next 20 years that Im able to continue to dedicate and commit myself on a different level to our profession and to my teams and continue to offer them the ability, the platform to elevate themselves. What an impact that must have had! Can I send you a copy? Right. And I realized three or four months later that it was a perfect meal. And as time went on we realized that we started selling more and more tasting menus. Now, before I went to see Bob, you have to realize that I had worked on this business plan, right? [4] Four years after his parents divorced, the family moved east and settled in Palm Beach, Florida. So as a young boy, this tiger was in this massive well, I dont want to say penned-in cage. Somebody will hire you. I wanted to make sure that I had somewhere to go to. At the height of this you had La Cte Basque, La Caravelle, Le Cirque, La Grenouille, La Reserve, Le Perigord. It was unprecedented in this country for a restaurant to get three stars from Michelin. In 2003, Richard Capizzi became the first pastry chef (not to mention the youngest) to ever sweep the awards at the U.S. Especially in California. Thomas Keller: Yeah. He loved wine. 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. You opened your own restaurant in New York in 1986. A sports franchise kind of mentality as well as a militaristic kind of mentality, because we do have and the same in the military you have hierarchy. Thomas Keller: Well, by the time they were divorced, my two oldest brothers were already out of the house. Then the hard work of attracting investors began. And if you appreciate it, great. He later opened a gourmet Burger Bar in Las Vegas, Nevada, which features a $60 "Rossini Burger" made of American Kobe beef, sauted foie gras, and shaved truffles. I had been fired from another. And I shouldnt say my first job, my first job in a formal kitchen was as a commis. So there was just the three of us and then along came my younger sister when she remarried. Patience, and perseverance, are a virtue. Following the failure of the Cobbley Nob, Keller became sous-chef at Caf du Parc in West Palm Beach. Thomas Keller: Yes. In 1996, the James Beard Foundation named Keller the Best Chef in America. A 1997 article by the influential New York Times critic Ruth Reichl pronounced The French Laundry the most exciting place to eat in the United States, and soon lovers of fine food from all over the world were making the pilgrimage to Yountville to sample Kellers fare. Yet at that time, Bill Clinton was just inaugurated, became our president, and one of his goals was to fund the SBA and try to get small businesses to be thriving again. 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. Because cooking wasnt really something that was popular at the time that I became interested. And so you have a pastry chef who is responsible for the entire pastry station, right? Now Ive got this rabbit thats got a broken leg, and Ive got to kill it and dress it. It changed, whatever the seasons brought, whatever the vegetables were. You had to do different things at different times of the day, which began which were part of the ritual of your job. To expand his knowledge, he joined Compagnons du Devoir, an artisans' organization that offers technical education through tours and apprenticeships with masters. We had some in New York City, mostly in New York I would say. There werent really a lot of people who had aspirations of becoming a chef. I wanted to travel. So I passed by out of curiosity. So your mom raised all six children by herself? You have chef plumbers. It all goes back to the rabbit. The recipe called for a double boiler. And make sure that I had paid attention to how I cooked it. For three years he wrote to restaurants all over France. In everything that we do, we have to understand that our expectations have to be of the highest. 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. And it was one of those things that you try. Did your mother or father support your culinary ambitions? We respond to that by notching up our game. I understood that if I was going to cook a recipe, I was going to produce a recipe, I needed to have the correct ingredients. 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). You got one more to go.. I dont know if theres a hospitality gene as much as theres a nurturing gene. Shortly after, he opened a second Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay. Thomas Keller: I think thats just it. The Keller empire expanded to Southern California with the 2009 opening of Bouchon and Bar Bouchon in Beverly Hills. You come back at 5:30. Again, just classic but just perfectly done. So typically, artisanal work or work that youre doing with your hands, manual labor, would have a chef. Thats just what you do. Just go over there. It wasnt until I had an executive coach for a period of time and he asked me, he said, So Thomas You know, one of his first questions to me. Its an extraordinary event, extraordinary undertaking. I remember him watching you know, you would have the Graham Kerr series. Soon, he started taking up chef positions at various restaurants in Rhode Island, where he met his mentor and French Master Chef Roland Henin. As a customer, you come in and you put yourself in the hands of a chef. It may be my last chance. I was in my mid-30s. Thomas Keller: Per Se opened in 2004. 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. I spent three summers there. We would have been on a flight so we would have missed the phone call. Therefore you have to pay them.

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