WEBVTT - Eric Ripert 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.880 You're listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.200 over the last few days. When I tell people we're 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:20.880 doing a podcast with Eric Repair, their face is light up. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.040 At the River Cafe, we spend our days making ravioli 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:29.000 with Ricotta viielenchi anti, pannacotta with grappa. But when we 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:33.800 as chefs come together, we talk about French food. The bouliebss, 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:38.160 the palm d'au finoise, the tartetans. Eric Cooke's French food 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:41.960 were inspired by Italian but maybe we're not so different. 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.120 He's been the chef at Bernadine, his Mission and three 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.600 star Fish and Seafood restaurant for more than thirty years. 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.319 I'm ahead by four years, having cooked at The River 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:55.560 Cafe since nineteen eighty seven and a profession that is 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.920 ever changing and always challenging. Eric is an inspiration, a mentor, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.840 and someone we look up to today. I'm here in 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.840 New York with him talking about us living in different cities, 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.560 cooking the food of different countries. But you know what, 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.560 we're pretty much the same, two chefs with much to share. 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:16.800 Thank you, thank you so much for being here, and 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.039 thank you for this great introduction. 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:23.240 No, that's true. So I thought it would be disrespectful 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.679 for the great chef to read a recipe from the 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.920 River Cafe. So I would like you to read it 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:32.840 yourself of one of your recipes, and we chose the 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:38.120 few soup. I'm going to start with a quote from you, Eric. Yes, 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:42.760 and you wrote in this book, think about your favorite dish. 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.679 For many of us, it's something we ate in childhood, 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:50.320 whose deliciousness lies in how uncomplicated it is. For me, 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.280 it's a simple fish soup made by my grandmother. This 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:58.160 is the most rewarding way to approach cooking, using culinary 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:00.880 knowledge to achieve simplicity. 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.920 Yes, I have very vivid memories of grandma doing the 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:07.040 fish soup youtail. 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.360 Oh, for sure, tell me about your grandma. 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:14.680 So I had two grandmothers, one was Italian, one from Provence, 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.639 and they both made fish soup by the way, of course, 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.920 But my favorite memory is the one from the Italian grandmother. 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:29.320 Because on the weekend, the family would gather together, like 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:33.040 all the uncles and cousins and my grandfather and grandma 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.080 and so on, and they would go fishing and scuba 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:40.400 diving and catching whatever they would catch. And then my 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.120 grandmother was in charge of the lunch. She would make 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.520 the table for twenty people, twenty five people. She would 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.600 prepare a lot of things, salads and appetizer, but she 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.520 would prepare for the fish soup. So whatever fish was 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.079 coming back, it will be cleaned very quickly, and then 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.680 she would make the fish soup. They're own side and 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:05.120 we will eat that fish soup. I don't know an 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.960 hour later or two hours lad that was cooked under 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:13.640 the trees overlooking them. Yes, no, close to antibet between 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:14.880 auntiebe and and can. 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:17.359 Okay, well, do you want to read the recipe and 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.799 we can talk more about so we're going to talk 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:20.639 about So. 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.440 For the fish soup, we use a quark cup of 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:29.280 extra vaginallyve oil, one medium onion thinly sliced, half a 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:33.600 bulb of fennel trimmed and thinly slice as well, four 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:39.640 cloves of garlic chopped, one teaspoon of saffron thread, three 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:43.920 cups of can whole tomato with their juice, a corek 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:48.760 cup of perno one bay leave, two pounds of egg 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:53.400 chile skin cut into chunks. Or you can ask a 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:59.480 fishmonger for Lian white fish scraps potentially finds the salt 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:05.640 and freshly grinded black pepper. And then in a large, 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:10.480 heavy bottom pot, you eat the extravaginallyve oil over medium heat. 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:13.960 You add the onions, the fennel, the garlic, and you 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.960 sote for five minutes. You steer in the saffron and 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:23.520 cook until the vegetables are soften and translucent, which takes 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.960 about five minutes. Again, then you crush the tomatoes with 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.159 a fork. You add them to the pot along with 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.920 perno and the bay leaf. Then you season the fish 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.120 with sea salt and white paper and add it to 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.360 the pot. You add enough water to cover the fish 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:44.520 by about one inch. You bring it to seamur and 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.960 you cook for twenty five minutes. Then you remove from 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.919 the heat and you let stand for five minutes. You 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:55.200 remove the bay leaf, and then you strain the broth, 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:58.760 throw a colander into a pot. You pure the fish 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.040 and vegetables badgies ah. 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.719 You put them yeah in. 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.480 A food meal and whisked the purrey back into the broth. 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.560 And then you season with sea salt and white pepper, 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:15.520 and then you divide into among warm bowls. So that's 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.880 the recipe of the book inspired by Grandma Grama. Was 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.360 not using egg, she was using whatever she was she 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:23.920 was having. 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.120 And you said she made this every week? Did she 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.000 always make this version of it? 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:32.200 Was very similar to this, and she would improvise a 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:35.359 lot as well, you know, I mean for the book, 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.000 we had to say half a cup, quarter of a cup. 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.839 She was not measuring. She was like, okay, give me 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.520 the garlic, let's feel it and let's drop it. And 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:47.360 the same thing with the onions. It was very instinctive. 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.800 She didn't have to really follow a recipe. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.080 And did she inspire you to cook? Then she was 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:55.440 the person that made you want to be a chef. 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.080 My two grandmothers inspired me a lot, and my mother 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.040 was an amazing, amazing chef. 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:04.360 Tell me because it was interesting, always say that in 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:06.039 all these interviews that we've done. 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:12.000 The grandmother, the Italian one, was cooking very Italian soul food. 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:16.680 She was cooking like great Italian, Northern Italian food, and 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.839 I loved it. And then my grandmother from Provence was 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:24.400 doing the same with proven sal food as well, which 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.839 is a little bit similar than Northern Italian, but as 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.320 some sortle differences. 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.919 I did the drive quite recently from Santa marc Rita 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:39.239 to Genoa to Nice and suddenly you were in Italy 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.280 and now you're in France, and you know, the farinata 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.560 which they do in Italy is the Italian version of 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:51.040 the socca, So yeah, which is in Nice. And what 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:51.880 else do they cook? 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:56.520 Like my grandmother in Provence, she was from the region 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.960 of Avignon, so in Avignon they're not close to the sea, 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:06.279 they are obviously inland, and she would do like a 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:10.920 baby leg of lamb roasted. And then my grandmother, the 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:14.280 Italian grandmother, wouldn't do that, but she would do She 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:19.560 would do alsobuco, for instance. My grandmother in Provence would 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:23.560 do a cocoveraine. My grandmother in Italy didn't know what 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:28.920 cocoveraine was. And those were subtle differences, but they were important. 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:34.160 My mother was obsessed with the chefs from Nouvelle cuisine 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.960 at the time, so the Michelle Gerard, the Paul Booquz 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:44.760 that generation. And at home she was cooking lunch and dinner, 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:49.160 those elaborate meals with appetizer, main course, cheese which she 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:52.800 didn't cook, and dessert that were different from lunch to 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:58.440 dinner on a different pattern. Of tablecloth, different china. It 0:07:58.640 --> 0:07:59.520 was unbelievable. 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:01.320 Would she be cooking for She. 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:06.720 Was cooking for myself, stepfather and my sister when when 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.400 she was old enough to be at the table with us, 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.640 because she's much younger than me. 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.040 She did this every day, every day. 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.920 She would Well, she was a business lady, so she 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.040 was in the fashion industry. She was importing the brand 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:28.160 Courage for Spain, Spain and underground. Yes, and so she 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:30.880 was very busy with the business. But she would wake 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.920 up at five am to prepare the meal and then 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.679 she she would finish whatever needs to be finished, all 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:41.600 the little details during lunchtime, and then same thing at night. 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:46.640 And sometimes after the dinner she would start to cook 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.800 for the like the desserts. Like if she was doing 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.640 I don't know a baba room, she would start to 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:58.440 let the baba do you know rise and so on. Yes, 0:08:58.480 --> 0:08:59.480 I mean it was amazing. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:01.840 She would have liked to have done that as a career. 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:06.120 No, no, she was she wanted. She wanted to do 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.640 it because for the art of doing it, for the 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.559 love of doing it, and she wanted to feed the family. 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.520 So you had this incredible life of having food that 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:18.040 was cared. You know, it was a priority in her 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.520 day and your stepfather. 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.920 And different styles too. Did you ever cook with her 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.360 with my mom later in life, because on the beginning, 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.600 they allow me to watch and eat anything I wanted, 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.520 but they really didn't want me to touch anything. They 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.080 were like, you're going to mess up the kitchen, don't 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:40.040 touch it. So I was eating, and just before I 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.280 went to culinary school, my mom started to allow me 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:44.800 to help her in the kitchen. 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:47.480 She sounds amazing and she's still cooking. 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:52.520 She cooks for herself, and she sent me pictures sometimes 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.240 and I'm like, oh my god, this is amazing. Like 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.040 the other day she did the dog comfee and then 0:09:58.120 --> 0:09:59.920 you know, she hasked, I don't know what you call it, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:04.160 those little for the for the bone, those little. 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:08.600 White white things, yeah yeah, those white yeah. Yeah. 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:12.560 So she still have those kind of details, and I'm like, 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:14.199 oh my god, how can you do that? 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:17.360 How do you look back at the food of the 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.560 nouvelle cuisine. What do you think when you when you 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:20.440 think of that food. 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:24.000 Well, as you know, nouvelle cuisine at one point became 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:28.439 really a bad world, and it became a caricature. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.600 Of big plates and food, and. 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.640 I always have this image of like three string beans 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.760 parallel to each other. But novelle cuisine on the beginning 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.960 was a revolution. We were coming out of the era 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:46.960 of escoffi. It was a different mindset where the sauce 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.040 was not hiding anymore the flavors, but the sauce was 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:54.200 enhancing the star of the plate, which was whatever protein, 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:58.040 mostly or vegetable you decide. And also it was the 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:03.720 first time that chefs were playing their food. Until then, 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.600 the food was on platters and the waiters were serving 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:11.480 the food or the clients were serving themselves from the platter. 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:16.199 But the first chef to say I'm planning my food 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:19.400 in my plate was the drug Row. 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.440 So you grew up in a house where food was 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.640 a priority, where your mother cooked, your grandmother's cooked. Tell 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.480 us when about your journey to becoming a chef, from 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.360 being a child that wasn't allowed in the kitchen to 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.880 being I think a fifteen year old that started cooking. 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:41.120 What happened at fifteen when you decided to be well. 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:46.240 At fifteen, I cannot go to school any longer because 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.560 my grades are so bad. So I ended up in 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:53.320 the principal office with mom and is explaining to her 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.840 that I have to find out what they call a 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:05.560 vocational school or a career. That's nineteen eighty and I 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.040 look sad, but I'm really happy because I want to 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:11.760 go to culinary school. So the principal promised to my 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.800 mother that he would do everything possible to send me 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.760 to a culinary school. And he had a friend who 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:24.720 was a principal in Perpignon, and I was accepted. I 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:27.240 don't know how, but I was accepted in culinary school. 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.160 And then I was a very good student there. 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.079 That's the thing, if you find what you love it. 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:39.240 I really loved everything about the restaurant industry. I was 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.360 the first year. We were waders and cooks. We were 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:47.400 learning both and we had some classes of a knowlogy, 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.360 which is about the wine. And I was having a 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:54.240 blast and my grades were excellent. In matth I was 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:57.040 still a bit weak, but I was putting a lot 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:00.520 of efforts. I was good in Spanish because I live 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:04.520 in Adora, so I would I could speak Spanish and French. 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.480 I didn't speak English at the time. And in the 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.559 kitchen I was a little bit bored because we were 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:16.160 learning old fashioned recipes from Escoffia basically, so I was 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.520 a bit bored, but I knew I was learning the basics, 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:25.040 so I was very diligent about listening to what the 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:29.040 directions were from the teachers, and my grades were great 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.959 on the first year. On the second year, same thing. 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:37.000 At my exam, which was after two years, I had 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:42.240 to do a gulash and a rice pilaf with Langostin's 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:47.079 in a source nin two yer and I did a 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:51.000 good job because I graduated with honors. And then I 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.600 was like, this is the beginning. I mean, I knew 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:58.000 it was the beginning. I wanted to be the chef 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.600 that I am today. I wanted to be in a 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.479 restaurant that has a big kitchen with a lot of equipment, 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.120 with a lot of cooks, a lot of waters, a 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:11.520 lot of a great team, beautiful china, and a great 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:15.080 wine cellar and everything else. And that was my dream. 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:19.080 So at seventeen years old, I write a letter to 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.680 the eighteen three star Micheline restaurant in France, because I 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:27.360 was eighteen at the time, and nobody answered nobody. So 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.560 then at one point I go back and I write 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.640 to the two stars and then Maxims sent me a 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.720 letter saying we don't have a spot for you, and 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:42.680 that's my only letter. And then three months later I 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.840 received a letter from Latyo Darjan and at the time 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.600 there were three stars, of course, and they were celebrating 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:53.320 in nineteen eighty two their four hundred year anniversary. Anyway, 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.560 I ended up at seventeen years old in Lato Darjon 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:01.080 in Paris. After reading that letter, I call them and 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.960 I said, you know, Americ Repair and I received your letter, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.280 and when when do you need me? And they said 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:11.000 we need you tomorrow, And well tomorrow it's going to 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.640 be tough. But three days later I was with my 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:15.760 suitcase in Paris. 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:16.840 Where did you stay? 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.240 In a tiny hotel? And then I find finally a place. 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:24.120 It took a couple of months to find a place. 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:30.000 It was very very seventeen in a kitchen like that. 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.520 Yeah, you know, what was the culture of the kitchen? 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:33.240 What was it like? 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:39.040 Very old fashioned? A lot of abuse, veriable abuse, physical abuse, 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:43.000 And that was the culture in those kitchens at that time. 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.280 And and also I have to say I was the 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.480 youngest in the kitchen and I was not necessarily the best, 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.600 and they were they were patients, but at the same 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.640 time they were very abusive and and as you probably 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:01.760 know in France, it was a philosophy behind it. First 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.800 of all, it made no sense to me, but they 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:08.640 wanted to break you psychologically and rebuilt you as a champion, 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.680 which is ridiculous. I think it was more an excuse 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.440 to let the chef be abusive and I have those 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:24.040 tantrums and be aggressive. And someone who's angry is it's 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.840 not someone who's It's not a quality to be angry. 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.520 Let's put it this way. So I learned. I learned 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:30.080 the hard way. 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:32.080 Do you think you've up? 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:36.400 Ever, No, I never thought of giving up. I was 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:42.960 obviously at times down and not happy, but my vision 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.320 of becoming the chef that I became was never compromised. 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.480 The ambition kept you, kept you going. 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:54.320 It was, yes, but the ambition was not about being 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.520 number one, being radied, or being The ambition was to 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:02.560 cook great food and create an amazing experience. And it 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:09.919 has always been my vision all my life. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.440 Did you know the River Cafe has a shop. It's 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.840 full of our favorite foods and designs. We have cookbooks 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:22.680 and then in Napkins Kitchen were chout bags with our signatures, 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:26.359 glasses from Venice, chocolates from Terurin. You can find us 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.159 right next door to the River Cafe in London or 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:37.840 online at shop the River Cafe dot co UK. From 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:39.680 Tour de Jean, how long did you stay there? 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:43.280 To Darjent, I didn't stay too long. I stayed about 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:46.440 a year and a half. And then the chef called 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:49.919 me in his office and said I heard that you 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.600 want to move, and you because you want to change, 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:54.760 And he said I will tell you when you're leaving. 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.200 And I said, yes, chef, of course. And a month 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.760 later he said, go to this place, it's called sham 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.960 Ask for the chef. His name is Joel Robischow, and 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:12.879 he's waiting for you. I'm basically like eighteen and a 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.760 half nineteen and I go there. I have no idea 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:19.440 where I'm going. And I met with Joel Robbie Schan 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:25.520 very sweet man, very kind man, great contacts. And then 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.920 he's telling me that I'm starting in a month from now. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.920 And was the culture in that kitchen the same? Was 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:34.159 it abusive? 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:39.520 And Robbie Shaw was not violent physically or it didn't 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:41.360 didn't want violence in his kitchen? 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:43.800 Was there violence? Actually physical violence. 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:50.320 Yes, chefs were kicking you in the shoulders. Sometimes it 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:55.639 was some physical battles in the coolers or in a 0:18:55.680 --> 0:19:00.280 staircase or things like that. It was definitely, but Robbie 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.639 Sewan it was very different. It didn't want that. He 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:06.440 was not a screamer, but it was very, very difficult, 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:13.680 and it was a painful experience with him as well, 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:18.200 because he was so demanding on himself and so demanding 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.359 on the team. He was never happy and every day 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:25.520 was coming and every day he had some negative comments 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:32.520 every day, but not necessarily articulating what was wrong, just 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.959 like a frustration about it. And I don't know if 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.440 you ever heard that, but he was looking at every 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.159 plate coming back in the kitchen, and when something was 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:46.159 left in a plate, even a tiny, tiny bite, it 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:47.040 was a disaster. 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:48.960 How long did you stay that? 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.040 So I did a year and something and then I 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.399 went to do my military duties, so I was of 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:59.760 course sent to the kitchen. Were yes, But on my 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:04.280 first day in the kitchen was Calamari American. I was like, hey, 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:08.240 this is cool. And then the Calamaria American was basically 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:13.240 frozen calamari with a beshamele ketchup and brandy. And then 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:17.760 at night they were doing spaghetti with something and they 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:24.160 managed to burn the spaghettis in the water. The heat 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:27.679 was coming from underneath. They dumped the spaghetti's the stock 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:32.840 to the bottom of the pot where it was in 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:37.280 Castel Sarazen, which is in the south of southwest of France, 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:40.159 near to Lose. So anyway, I went to see the 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:42.720 general and I said to him, I don't mind to 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:46.040 do my military duties, but please get me out of 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:48.920 this kitchen because I'm going to be depressed. And he 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:50.360 laughed at me and he said, I'm going to send 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.879 you to the commandos. You're going to learn. And I 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:59.280 was skinny like this, like I was like looking at 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:02.080 him like, you know, I can't do that, and he 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:04.200 laughed and he said, you want to be my waiter. 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:06.879 I said, yeah, I would love to be your waider. 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:10.159 He said okay, and I became For the rest of 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:13.520 my stay in the militaries the waiters of the general. 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.119 I served the food. I didn't cook. And then on 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:21.600 my last day I receive a call and I thought 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:24.440 it was a joke, and they called me and they said, 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:27.800 you have a call. It's Joel Robbie Shan calling you. 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:32.679 I'm like that a joke, it's not possible. And I 0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:34.879 look and it's a number I call and it seemed 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:37.480 and he's like, oh, thank you for calling me back. 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:40.920 I heard that you've done with the military duties. I 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:43.400 would like for you to come back, and I would 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:48.520 look for you to be the chef person and Jamin 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:53.280 and what do you think. At the time, I had 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.879 a girlfriend, many things were happening in my life. I 0:21:56.920 --> 0:21:59.520 was not really excited to go back to Paris, and 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:01.320 I said, can I think about it? And he said, yes, 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:02.840 of course, you have thirty seconds. 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:04.920 Yes. 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:08.800 I was like, yes, chef. And I went back to 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:13.600 Paris then and I did two something years again with 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:16.200 him in the fish in charge of the fish station. 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:18.960 Well, let's go back to coming here. How did you 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:21.119 end up in So I went. 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:23.200 To see Joel Robischan and I said, you know, we'd 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:26.199 like to travel the world and can you help me? 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:29.840 And he sent me to the water Reghatt Hotel in Washington, 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:33.520 d C. And I worked with Jean Repalladin, who was 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:35.040 an extremely talented chef. 0:22:35.560 --> 0:22:37.720 And what was the culture like the culture in the 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:38.560 kitchen was. 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:46.720 In Washington, dis very relaxed, small team. Jean Repaaladin was 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:50.119 very creative. I was happy because for me it was 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:54.440 a different experience. I learned very classic food at Lato Darjean. 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:58.320 Then I learned rigor and techniques with Joel Robi Schan 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:00.760 and then with Jehan Repaada. I had a lot of 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:04.240 inspiration from him to be creative. 0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:07.920 But I think with that, you know, I think with cooking, 0:23:08.040 --> 0:23:10.360 if you have the breaker first, then you can have 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:14.840 the kind of maybe relaxed after well to not have 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:15.879 that background and. 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:16.760 Now you have to start. 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:17.640 You have to start. 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:20.040 You have to start with the basis and the bigger 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:23.960 and then you can start to be creative. And then 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:26.480 you have to learn how to manage also a team people. 0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:29.960 And that was gilberlo cause in le Bernardin. When I 0:23:30.040 --> 0:23:35.840 joined in nineteen ninety one, I was twenty four years old, 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:40.320 and he said to me, look, I want someone to 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:43.919 take care of my kitchen, and if you respect the 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:48.439 philosophy of le Bernardin, which is the fish is the 0:23:48.480 --> 0:23:51.240 star of the plate, then you can do whatever you 0:23:51.280 --> 0:23:54.000 want here and I will support you. And I had 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:56.400 this support until he passed away in nineteen ninety four. 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:00.720 Then I became partner with my gillocouse his sister, and 0:24:01.119 --> 0:24:02.879 the rest is story history. 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:05.520 I think it would be interesting to talk about the 0:24:05.520 --> 0:24:10.920 culture of the restaurants that were, you know, existing, the bullying, 0:24:11.080 --> 0:24:15.520 the anger, the tantrums, the physical abuse, you know. I 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:18.840 always say that I once had a young woman chef 0:24:18.880 --> 0:24:23.000 come to the River Cafe and she was describing her 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:26.120 experience in another kitchen and she said that the chef 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:28.879