WEBVTT - Eric Ripert on Fish, Simplicity and Balance 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:08.280 My name is Jeffrey Z Carreen and you're listening to 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.520 four Courses with Jeffrey Z. Carrion from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.240 In four courses, I'll be taking you along for the 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:16.520 ride while I talked with the top talent of our time. 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.520 In each conversation, I focus on four different areas from 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:24.000 my guest life and career. And during those four courses, 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.079 I'm going to dig deep in and cover new insights 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:28.960 and inspirations that we can all use to fuel ourselves 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:32.559 to push forward. My guest for this episode is a 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.760 world renowned chef. He built his career working for some 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:39.000 of the oldest and best restaurants in France, and today 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:41.680 his flagship restaurant in New York City ranks as one 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.080 of the best in the world. Without further delay, let's 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:50.199 get into my conversation with Eric Repair and jeff For 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.440 our first course, I wanted to ask Eric what parts 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.160 of his childhood drew him into the kitchen. He spent 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.040 his early life gathering fresh fruits and vegetables from local 0:00:58.080 --> 0:00:59.760 markets and a part of the world most of us 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:02.480 can only dream of vacation. I was born in on 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:06.000 Teabe and then my parents live in um next to 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.319 can and then to Saint Tropez, and so I was 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.720 in the front review for about nine years here. So 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.160 when you think of like those times when you visit 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:19.120 back there, what smell or memory of smell or food 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.160 when you walked into your house grabbed you. What do 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.440 you remember walking into your house now that once in 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:27.280 a while you walk by another restaurant, like you know 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.480 that smells sort of like what was cooking in my 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:31.880 house or what we did all the time. What I 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:37.320 remember the most, it's the smell of the basil, the basil, 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:41.160 because over there is so vibrant. You can be like 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.240 fifty yards from the market and and from the stand 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.039 and you can smell the basil or the sweetness of 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:51.080 the melons or something like that. If at home I 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.520 have basil from the garden, or I have some melons 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:56.280 that I never put in a fridge by the way, 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:00.480 so they don't lose their flavor, then it minds me 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:03.240 the market. So how old were we about them when 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.920 you realize that that smell was like intoxicating. I was 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:09.119 very young. I was maybe four or five years old, 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.840 because my grandmother was taking me to the market every day, 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.480 you know, like in France, that the generation was going 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:20.200 to buy the bread every morning and whatever they needed 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:22.160 for the day, and the day after they were going 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.240 back to the market again and visiting the butcher and 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.960 stopping at the vegetable stand and some days going to 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.800 the fishery and so on. So it was you know, 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.880 they took but takes an hour or two to do 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:35.800 that every day. I mean, it takes time and you 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:38.000 have to do it, but you get the ability. First 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.840 of all, I believe that buying more often you you 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.000 spend less because you getting much smarter and you have 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:45.040 an inventory in your head about what you have, so 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:46.720 you don't you're not buying you know what, I'll just 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:48.519 get it anyways in case I need it. You don't 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.280 do that. That's not in case I need it. You know, 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.080 you buy what's on sale or what's fresh or what's 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:56.040 in season, and you buy a lot of it and 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.240 you eat that for three or four days. Yes, it's 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.760 fantastic because you are so connected with the season just 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.400 by visiting the market, just by talking to the people 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:09.760 who sell their products. And sometimes we talk about seasons 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:11.880 like the spring and the summer and the fall, but 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.640 the beginning of the spring is very different than the 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:16.360 middle of the spring at the end of the spring, 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.359 so we we were connected to the season. Just by 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:24.200 doing that, we knew exactly when was the best tomatoes 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.919 of the year, of the best strawberries, or the sherris 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.680 when the season was starting and so on. I grew 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:33.799 a vegetable garden this past year and never had done 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.160 one for a long time, and it was so much work. 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.560 And I had forgotten once zucchini comes, man, you're gonna 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.240 be eating zucchini a lot because it all comes on. 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.520 It's yes, it's the same for the salads. Right. This 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.680 year I planted some salads, and what I forgot is 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.360 that all the salads comes at the same time, and 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:59.280 so you get the same romane or the same letters 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.640 in huge quantities. What I like about it is that 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.160 we eat a lot of it because there's delicious, But 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.560 we are also connecting with the neighborhood because we give 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:10.600 them some salads and they're happy and they give us 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.320 something else and so on. There you go, and that's 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:15.760 what it's all about. So, so your grandmother went to 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.240 the market, did your mom monique r your mom's monique, right? Yeah? 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.680 And my mother was her name is still Monique, yes, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:25.520 And did she go to market to or was she 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.839 just doing preparation and her mother helping your buying and 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:32.640 all that sort of stuff. So my mother was going 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:35.240 to the market as well, but not the way my 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.280 grandmothers were going to the market. So I had an 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.840 Italian grandmother and a provincial grandmother and they were going 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.479 there on the daily base, and it was like soul 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:49.920 food from their region northern Italy and the region of 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:54.200 province near Avignon. And my mother was going to the market, 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.200 but she was buying slightly differently, and she was very 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:01.400 inspired by nouvelle cuisine and by what chefs like Paul 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:04.880 Bocuse and Michelle Gerrard and all the generation we're doing. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.800 And she was cooking for us very elaborate food. So 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:14.080 it was slightly different in terms of preparation and shopping. However, 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:16.719 for me it was a blessing because I was exposed 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:19.880 to salt food and I was exposed at the same 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.960 time to something that it was very refined. And I 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.600 didn't know that I was privileged. I thought every kid 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.359 in the world was eating exactly like me, and so 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.919 didn't really you like you wanted to do something in 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:35.599 the food world, or did you have college on mine 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:37.400 on your mind, or did you want to, you know, 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:41.920 learn a trade. Well, I was obsessed with eating because 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:45.120 I was so spoiled and my experience were so powerful, 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.040 and I was always trying to get inside the kitchen. 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:51.599 But nobody led me because they claim I would thrash 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.640 the kitchen or leave some disaster there. But I was 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.680 very young. I was five, six seven years old, obsessed 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:03.200 with the kitchen. Not necessarily to really work hard in 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.479 that kitchen. I wanted just to play a little bit, 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:08.280 but I wanted to eat well, and that's why I 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:12.400 was there. And then when I became older, instead of 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:16.359 studying in high school, I was reading cookbooks and I 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:19.839 remember Paul bocus Are like within the Marche and and 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.680 so on, and I was reading recipes. Therefore I had 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.720 bad grades, right, And because I had bad grades, at 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.039 one point they called my mother and said, your son 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.480 is really, really bad in school. He has to find 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.320 what they call in friends, vocational college. And I was like, yeah, 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:36.719 I'm going to culinary school. That's what I want to do. 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:38.760 I want to cook and I want to eat well. 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:43.200 And I no no idea how hard it would be 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.200 to go to a clinary school and study because as 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:49.800 you know, we are not born with knife skills and 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:54.960 all those those important details. Right, yes, but you're you're 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:57.440 into at this time or you still on the side 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.680 of France. So I was living in a principal of Andorra, 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.560 but the school was in Perpinion, which is the south 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.560 of France, which was about three hours by cal from 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.720 where I was living. So I was in that school 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.360 and they had a reputation of being tough. All the 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:18.160 teachers were coming from the the yacht Le France, and 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.520 that boat was very iconic in the seventies and eighties, 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.720 and those guys were very well trained and very tough. 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.520 So they were training the cooks in the in the 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:31.840 school with a lot of rigor, which is of course 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.840 beneficial at the end, right, And they knew their craft 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.520 very well. I had very good teachers, but I was 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.120 not the best cook in the class. There was a 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.760 lot of kids that were really excelling. I was doing 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.600 a good job. I was really bored in culinary school 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.120 because my parents were taking me to the best restaurants 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.560 in France, and I was exposed to grid cuisine and 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:56.000 then in culinary school, we were learning the basics, which 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.480 is normal obviously, and so the basics a mayonnaise and 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.520 vinegar it and sas beshamal and and things like that, 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:05.400 and I was like, oh my god, this is so boring. 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.480 So I was not that excited, but I was cooking 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.440 pretty well. So then they decided that I was a 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.440 great waiter because the first year in cleanery school you 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:16.640 had to be a waiter a little bit for part 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.280 of the weekend in the kitchen for about It's a 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.880 business in the business. So they tried to push me 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:23.880 to become a waiter, and I didn't want to do that. 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:26.640 And a big accident happened at the end of the year, 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:30.280 just before they took their decision. I basically dumped on 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.880 top of a general from the French army a trail 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.560 of cocktails, and and then it was not enough. I 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:39.400 had to go back to the table because the teacher 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.240 told me I had to go back. And then I 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.200 served the table, and when it was time to serve 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.520 his wife, the trail tilted and the glass fell on 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.120 the neck of his wife. And that was not over again. 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:53.120 They told me to go back to the bar and 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:56.280 come back so I I came back and I slid 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:58.080 on the ice cube that was on the floor, and 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.400 the trail went back on the table and that was 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.439 sent forever in the kitchen for the second year, and 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.199 in between, they send me in training to work in 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.400 a very tough kitchen to make sure that I had 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.000 a passion and the fire for cooking, which I had, 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:14.800 and I started to really enjoy being an in those 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:36.240 kitchen and then I graduated and moved to Paris. In 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:38.959 our second course, I had to understand how Eric's career 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:42.240 as a chef took off when he arrived in Paris, because, 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.360 unlike most people straight out of Connory School, Eric cut 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.079 his teeth at one of the most renowned restaurants in France, 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:52.599 latur Jon. In fact, the institution celebrated it's four d 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:56.880 anniversary the very year Eric started. They were basically the 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:01.360 first restaurant that introduced the fork in rents because the 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.280 King didn't want to eat with his fingers anymore, and 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:08.520 they created the fork, and uh, he was going there, 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.320 the restaurant of the King. I never knew that. That's incredible. 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.480 So four years or so, two six D something, I mean, 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:20.400 that's just unbelievable. Yeah. During the French Revolution, because it 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:24.320 was a sign of royalty, they basically burned the restaurant 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.640 and destroy it, but they rebuilt it again on top 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:31.920 of the ashes of the old restaurant. And then in 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.280 the beginning of the twentieth century the name changed from 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:40.480 Latin became Cafe only so Jan. So what's Tota Jan 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:42.760 is known for other than it's incredible seller. It's like 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:44.920 located on top of like I think it looks over 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.600 Notre Dame. I think I haven't been in a long time. 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.520 And they have the famous Tacolo range or the duck 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.520 per se correct which the giant doctor gets smashed. Did 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:57.880 you do that? Did you learn that process? Were you 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.960 there long enough to go to the entire station? Yes? 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.400 I was. I was, so I started and I was 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.920 seventeen years old. I was the youngest coup in the kitchen, 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.360 not the most brilliant one, I have to tell you, 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.400 because coming from culinary school, going to a brigade like 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:15.200 that is a definitely a culture whole change and the challenge. 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:19.000 But I did all the stations except past three because 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.040 they put me in pastry and one afternoon while everybody 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:25.720 was away I ate twenty five raspberry tartlets and I 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:27.920 didn't know they were counting them, and they kicked me 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.280 out of the past three. I never went back, but 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.760 I did all the station from from the fish station 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:36.600 to the duck station. Don't they have a number system? 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.720 I remember back then they had how many ducks they sold, 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.240 and then they had like a prize. I believe at 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:45.200 one point, not too many years ago, that there was 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.240 the one million duck or something like that. Yes, they 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.720 reached the one million. So each time that someone eats 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.320 a duck, they gave him a postcard with a number. 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.960 I have to tell you don't believe that story because 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.960 I burned so many ducks and they didn't issue numbers 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:05.520 for them. One day, I went for the family meal 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.560 and when I came back, it was flames coming out 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.160 of the hood. It was twenty four ducks burning in 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:15.120 the oven. Oh my god, I mean duck. People understand, 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.040 duck is a dangerous animal. I mean, there's so much 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.400 fat on them. They're very You've got to really understand 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:24.000 how to coca duck. It's easy to overcook it, but 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.679 probably cooked ducks so the leg and the thigh is 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.679 almost impossible. Probably if you haven't been to a lot, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:31.800 Toldo Young, I would put it on anybody's bucket list. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.120 I don't care how many stars it has now. It's 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.280 just such a spectacular place to go. And it's just 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.440 it's like you feel like the movie rather too. You 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:41.959 know that when they sit down and you look it 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.360 over the Paris. That's what it's like. It's that magical. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.760 It really is. Yes, it's one of the most dining 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:49.760 room in the world. Actually, I mean you have a 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.960 view of Notre Dame de Paris. It feels like it's 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:58.199 it's in the dining room basically made of gigantic windows, 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.840 and it's amazing. On inside, you see the lascent, which 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:05.000 is the river and and Paris and Notre Dame. And 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.520 on the other side you have those kind of what 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:11.240 they called duck theaters, which are like small areas that 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:13.960 look like a mini theater where the waiters are cutting 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.000 the ducks and they are preparing the ducks and making 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.160 the sauce with the press and so on. I mean, 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.720 it's it's one of those very unique experience. And then 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.080 they have one of the most beautiful wines set over 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.480 in the world. I mean, it's i was very young 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.240 when I saw it and I understood it. I would 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.679 love to go back again, and just taking it as 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:33.880 someone who just wants the experience. And I remember what 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:35.680 I remember was going up to the window and seeing 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.199 the barges going by all lit up and people are 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.480 having dinner on the barges as they were going down 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:44.480 the scene. I'm like, this is just magnificent. And that 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.480 was like I thought, it was like, wow, it was 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.079 a show that we was just doing it. No, that's 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.840 how it's every day like that. It's just it's a lifestyle. 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:55.280 Back then, I think it was three stars. Yes, if 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.000 I'm not it was. So you went from you know, 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.719 Colninary school to a couple of places three stars. That's 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.360 a big leap. A lot of people work a long 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:07.120 long time before they gave recruited for a three star restaurant. Yes, 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:11.120 but in my mind there was no other way. I 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.480 wanted to work in a three star restaurant. I didn't 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.520 want to work in anything else. So when I graduated, 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.760 I went to buy the Michelin Guide and it was 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:23.240 eighteen restaurants in France that at three stars, and I 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:26.120 sent I wrote by end of course, at the time 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:29.360 it was no computers. I wrote eighteen letters saying, hey, 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:31.840 I'm a re repair I just graduated, blah blah blah, 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.320 I'm seventeen years old. I wanted to work in your kitchen, 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:39.480 and nobody answered and and finally a month and a 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.760 half later, I received a call and it was a 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:45.600 suche from lad Brand who said are you repair? And 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:47.840 I said, yes, I am repaired. While we got your 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:49.760 letter and we have a job for you. And I 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.480 said when, Yeah, great, okay, when can I start? And 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.480 it was a Friday afternoon and I remember because I 0:14:55.520 --> 0:15:00.000 was coming back from ranging in the forest for Portugue. 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.240 And the guy said, well, I need you on Monday. 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.920 In between Friday afternoon and Monday, we were able to 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.680 find an airline ticket. I made my suitcase and I 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.120 was in Paris in a subway on Monday morning on 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.360 my way to rang. I just hearing that, I get 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.760 chills because when you get to the door, you know, 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.280 the hallway to the kitchen is always fluorescent, like it's 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:28.320 not pretty, it's always the feeling is like you're out 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:30.480 of body feeling. It's like where am I? What's that 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.640 so foreign? You're not in any comfort zone. Whatsoever, and 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.440 you're like, at the same time, you're like, oh my god, 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:40.880 this is amazing. Yes, it was amazing and fascinating. But 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:45.280 I was so scared because I was pretty protected in 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:49.480 my lifestyle because Andorra is a very small country. Everybody 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:54.760 is happy. I have never seen professional kitchens. It was 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:58.480 all about reading in books and dreaming about it and 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.120 so on. And suddenly you are in that kitchen with 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:04.880 thirty or forty cooks. And when I walk in that kitchen, 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.760 they were already like in full speed. It was eight 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.440 o'clock in the morning, but the stocks were boiling and 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:14.040 the guys were working and running and so on and 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:18.680 and actually I was very surprised. Nobody was my age. 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.000 They were all like twenty five thirty years old, and 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.360 they look at me like I was someone coming from 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:30.160 a UFO. And uh, it was very intimidating. But I 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:32.120 mean after a couple of days, I mean, was it 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.080 just like You're like, oh my god, it's pinched me 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.800 because you know you're at some place that's extraordinary. Yes, 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:42.640 I was extremely happy and challenge at the same time, 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.880 because when you come out of a culinary school, as 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.880 much as you believe that with your graduation. You are 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.280 a great cook. When you work in those restaurants, you 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.040 realize you know so little and you make so many 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:56.920 mistakes and so on, and you the challenges are enormous. 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.320 It was a very intense experience for me, but I 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.040 have no regret at all. I will do it in 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:07.200 a heartbit. Yeah. I So what's the first station that 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:09.760 you worked? Where did they put you first? Obviously didn't 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.520 work a station. And then what was the first time 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.520 when someone noticed that you were really very capable and 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.120 they're like said, okay, let's you know, the world got 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:24.240 around that, you know what you were doing so specialized 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.919 in ducks. However, they put me in a fish station. 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.560 H And the fish station it was not so easy. 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.879 I mean you had to take care of yourself of 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.000 filting your fish and taking care of the shellfish and 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.719 making your sauce and garnishchees and so on. So I 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:44.879 was helping the main chief in that station, and I 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.159 had a lot to learn. I mean from making an 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:51.640 lands with thirty two yolks that became scrambled eggs after 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.000 on my first day, after an hour in that kitchen, 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.560 to cutting my fingers, slicing shallotte again on the first 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:01.119 day was the beginning was a bit rough. But after 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.840 I would say three or four months, finally that came 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:07.480 to me and they said, you know, we believe. Now 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:09.760 now it's time for you to move to the next station. 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.080 And that was a big deal. When they were moving you, 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:16.120 it was like a very big compliment. You were accomplished 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.520 in one station, you could go to the next and 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.280 learn something else, and then you were moving again and 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.840 again and again. So the fish station. So you're at 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:26.359 the fish station, is there anything now knowing fish like 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:29.600 you know now? Was there anything there that stood out 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:34.199 knowing what it was then as being exemplary since they 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.560 weren't known for fish. Yeah, I thought that the way 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:44.040 they were preparing fish was extremely light and very original. Actually, 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.000 the chef Dominick Bush at the time was trying to 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:50.880 change a little bit the reputation of Latron and get 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.800 away from the ducks and have a reputation for a 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.639 broader cuisine. So it was really putting a lot of 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.760 efforts into the fish station, which was my luck because 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:03.000 we we're using a lot of different techniques. It was 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:06.720 a blessing because I really really started my love for 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:10.840 cooking fish in there. It seems like like looking back 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:13.240 at your career, like told Jean, could have been a 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:15.920 place that really cemented fish for you, even though it's 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.600 not known for fish. I mean I never ate fishy 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:22.360 to Jean, No, because nobody, I mean, if everybody hits 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:26.400 the duck. However, again, the fish was really delicious, and 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:30.919 I really started to enjoy very much cooking fish because 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.280 when you cook meat, and I love I don't have 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.000 a preference in between meat and fish or vegetables. When 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:38.760 I cook, I cook with my heart and with my 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:42.040 knowledge and and so on and my instinct. But when 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:45.520 you cook meat is a very sensual way of cooking, right, 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:48.840 But when you cook fish, it's a very sensual way. 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.200 But also it's a very technical way. And I love 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:54.840 the fact that you have to be so focused because 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:59.480 ten seconds could be the biggest mistake and the fish 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:01.960 becomes are cooked and he has no flavor and so on. 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:05.280 The meat is much more forgiven you cooked meat an 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.359 extra minute, you don't have consequences for the fish. You 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:10.520 have to be so cautious, and you have to be 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:13.320 so cautious also with whatever goes in the plate, because 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:18.159 the fish is so delicate. That any ingredients could overwhelm 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:20.480 the qualities of that filly of fish in the plate. 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:23.040 So I learned that from La Daran and moving to 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:26.520 Robbie Shaw and to other restaurants, I learned that respect 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.439 for the techniques and for the ingredients, and especially for 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:47.480 cooking fish for our third course. I wasn't just gonna 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:50.080 let Eric class all the time working with world class 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:54.239 chef Joan robber Shan at his restaurant jam Robbishan ran 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:56.320 one of the strictest kitchens in the business, and I 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.960 wanted to know how these extremely high standard shaped Eric's 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.600 style as a chef. Tell me about Jamain. I mean 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.159 I remember eating a Jamin and then I remember the 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:07.680 next time I had his. This cuisine was the Latalier 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.840 and he did a very big deal. But tell me 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.360 about the working as German, Like what, you were assistant 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:16.240 chef the party, which is a big deal. Yes, So 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:19.919 he hired me um as the chef the party. So 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.760 after a chef the Party, which is like, it's a 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.800 pretty good title. I mean, chef the party means you're 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:29.280 responsible for a station. And I was actually in garde manger, 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:32.119 which is the cold pitier section, and I was in 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:36.399 charge of Garde Manger. With him, Joel Robbie Jamain was 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:44.160 doing miracles every day. And he's the most rigorous, knowledgeable, 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:47.840