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His restaurant was La Pyramide in Valencin (Vienne), France. Hes that person thats going to support you, thats not going to let you fall and dont let him fall, and really its a team. That was going to be something that was maybe decades away. Thomas Keller: It was a very difficult time in New York City. Thats what he wanted. The latest restaurant, "ad hoc", opened in September 2006 in Yountville with a different fixed price comfort food dinner served family style every night. So if you can give me $5,000, then Ill take on the project, and if its successful, well take our money on the back end. I said, Great. So for the next two weeks I went to the ATM machine, and on my credit card I took out $500 until I got $5,000, and I took $5,000 in cash and gave it to him and he started to modify the business plan and produce a bona fide business plan that I could then present to partners, which we did. At The French Laundry, Keller applied everything he had learned from his years as a chef and his own previous ventures. Herb Caen came to dinner at The French Laundry. We would have been on a flight so we would have missed the phone call. We were very honored. It was really about price points. Is that hierarchy something that you observed in France? Theyre working on the same preparation, the same compositions, the same dishes, the same recipes day in and day out for that entire year period. Chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller says his mother was his first mentor. In his teenage summers, he worked at the Palm Beach Yacht Club starting as a dishwasher and quickly moving up to cook. So hes tasked with many different things and having to juggle many different things. Mr. Keller is 61, an age when other. Of course you had your glass racks or specific racks. 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. Thats where the name comes from. His flagship restaurant, The French Laundry, has been called the best in the world (twice), he's created an empire but maintained his impermeable brand and he's the only American chef to have been simultaneously awarded three Michelin Stars at two different restaurants. We had a choice of getting on an airplane and missing the phone call, because it was going to come at 10:00 in the morning New York time, which was 4:00 in the afternoon in Paris. I had much more control over it. And that really, typically, as much as males have nurturing genes, I think really comes from mostly females and the act of being a parent, being a mother. I remember him watching you know, you would have the Graham Kerr series. The more choices you had, the more luxurious it was. One of the things that I dont believe we do enough of is to help our veterans, our servicemen and women. I learned the technique was important. And of course that catapulted us to again be financially successful, which allowed us now to commit our resources in so many different ways. So five days a week, my meals were paid for. It was kind of this magical place, and I just felt an instant connection to it. And you know what, it was okay, either one. At that time Serge and I started to talk about opening our own restaurant and that became Rakel. In other words, you carve the turkey, you serve the food, and then you took the leftovers home. One of them was off in the Navy. I wanted to travel. Again, just classic but just perfectly done. The multiple Michelin-starred chef (The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon) spent the past five years . Keller began his career as a professional cook at the Palm Beach Yacht Club in 1974. If I wasnt, I learned it from her. And you never know. Keller has joked in the past that the motivation for Bouchon's opening was to give him somewhere to eat after work at The French Laundry. I became a consultant, which paid me more money than I ever made before, but which was so unrewarding to do that that I was just miserable. We changed every day. I was very impatient, and I wanted to go out and explore. And he said to me one day, he said, You know, Thomas, the reason cooks cook is really to nurture people. And at that moment that really resonated with me and I said, Wow, I want to become a chef.. The two would work so closely together that within a year she had moved in with him in the house behind the restaurant, and the couple have become partners in life as well as business. I was already cooking now for four years. The idea of service is so pertinent to both worlds, military and culinary. No one told you those things. 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. It was poorly lit, and I had to arrive at work the next morning in the kitchen downstairs at 5:30 and they would show me what to do. Keller and Cunningham opened a more casual establishment, Bistro Bouchon, in Yountville in 1998. Chef Keller began his career in the kitchen of the Palm Beach club managed by his mother, before traveling to France and working at Guy Savoy and Taillevent, among other similarly lauded places. You have truly defined haute cuisine in this country. We were of course very flattered. And that was my room. Somebody will hire you. I wanted to make sure that I had somewhere to go to. Many times the advice was, Well just go. And what do you say to Paul Bocuse? At the height of this you had La Cte Basque, La Caravelle, Le Cirque, La Grenouille, La Reserve, Le Perigord. Not only did I get a commercial bank loan, I also went to the Small Business Administration because I was still short on money. Not necessarily. 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. Ive had some extraordinary honors in my life. It was considered one of the best restaurants in the world. You prepare for lunch. After World War II the men came back and the women stayed at work and that spawned the convenience food generation, which was us. I mean that became the catch phrase. Thomas Keller: One of our commitments is to make sure that we are consistent. Were you primarily raised by your mother? Theyre going to drive right by our restaurant and stop. So when they were divorced, that was her path. I learned that doing things that other people do better is not necessarily good just because youre doing it in your own backyard or in your own house. Thomas Keller: My parents were divorced when I was young. Cook it by the numbers, following every instruction. Of course I didnt have any resources whatsoever. Thomas Keller: Its interesting because when I was at Taillevent, I had been cooking for quite some time. Again, we dont know what to expect. So we have a sous-chef thats responsible for canaps and fish for example. With the porcelain manufacturer Raynaud and the design firm Level, Keller created the Hommage collection of white porcelain dinnerware. And of course, what does the rabbit do? And Rakel was in an area that wasnt really supported by a community or a neighborhood around it. We all promised him that we would do our jobs collectively in organizing a foundation that would support a U.S. culinary team to compete in Lyon and actually reach the podium. 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. All of them loved the idea but turned me down. What the Marines say so much about is that discipline, is that commitment to what youre doing, and more important, the commitment to each other. What is the chef cooking today? From there, he honed his skills at the heart of Thomas Keller's Restaurant Group, rising from a sous chef at Per Se to the executive pastry chef at both Per Se and Bouchon Bakery within a mere two years. Theres sous-chefs responsible in pastry in the same way. And in San Francisco we had Herb Caen. We have to be that much more determined, that much more committed to what we do every day. Were they going to come from France? Its not just about going out to dinner. I was four or five years old when my parents were divorced. My grandmother when I lived with my grandmother we had the milkman that came. And it was just one of those magical moments. Iconic Dishes As much as I would have appreciated and certainly had deep respect to go to France and to receive it at the lyse, I knew right away that I would prefer to have somebody else pin that medal on my chest. He has won multiple awards throughout his career and is well-known for his rare ability to establish restaurants that are somehow both relaxed and exciting. And of course he was the one who took the medal out of the box and pinned it on my chest, and it was one of the most it was the most I think extraordinary moment of my life to receive that kind of recognition from a country that has defined for me what great cuisine is. So its not just we relate to chef as somebody thats only in the kitchen, but remember, its chef de cuisine, chef of the kitchen, chef of the electricians, chef of the plumbers. And those are his two chefs. There he worked under the French chef Roland Henin, who inspired him to master the exacting art of French haute cuisine. And then you work until 11:00 at night. And as time went on we realized that we started selling more and more tasting menus. I took a shower like I normally did and I came back to the restaurant. And to keep herself busy, and of course to supply some income for the family, she worked in restaurants. So in 1980, I planted my first garden. Thomas was considered too young to work as a cook so he started as a dishwasher. It would seem Chef Thomas Keller would have reason to be satisfied. I knew I could cook. It all goes back to the rabbit. So living that dream became one of the hardest things Ive ever done, but also one of the most gratifying things Ive ever done in my life. Of course we never knew who their inspectors were, but who were their inspectors? No problem. So we were always trying to fill the books in with his reservations. Thomas Keller: On a trip to Napa Valley one spring day, Jonathan Waxman, who is a friend of mine who had opened a restaurant in New York and now is opening a restaurant here in Napa Valley. Thomas Keller: Per Se opened in 2004. Even though I hadnt spent a lot of time with my father growing up, in my early 20s I made a reconnection with him and certainly we rekindled our relationship and he was very supportive, even though he didnt understand what I did. And of course Bill Wilkinson was very influential in the hotel world because he opened the first boutique hotel in our country, which was Campton Place in San Francisco. The restaurant was Per Se, in New York. Thomas Keller: There was one other a little less-known chef, who also inspired me and I think a lot of my colleagues, and that was Jean-Louis Palladin. And he agreed to do it. The French government named him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the traditions of French cuisine and his role in elevating culinary art in America. I spent three summers there. Thomas Keller: I think its helped me understand and analyze what I do, and try to attach other examples of other professions to what I do, in trying to understand and elevate our profession. We do the same thing over and over and over again. A chef in France is the head of a specific area. Its like, Wow, I can choose any one of these pillows. But which one really is the best? Today, Thomas Keller and Laura Cunningham make their home in a house behind The FrenchLaundry, while they operate fine dining establishmentsas well as casual bistros, cafs and bakeriesin New York, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills and the Napa Valley. Thomas Keller: Herb Caen was a great writer. So if you dont want to be repetitive in what youre doing, you probably dont want to really be a cook. 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. And of course the next morning he called me and he told me that The French Laundry again had received the highest recognition from Michelin Guide, three stars. So we made him barbeque chicken and cooked up some mashed potatoes because thats what he wanted. I was in an area in California I was in Los Angeles I didnt really know that area that well. Thomas Keller: Per Se. He holds an honorary Doctor's in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America. People walking around town, he would just chat people up and, Oh, you know, my son owns The French Laundry. And they would say, Oh, can you get me a reservation? Oh yeah. Out of those 400, 52 agreed to write a check, for a lot of different reasons, for any amount of money. So Im in his restaurant the next day, because every morning after the competition he does a breakfast for the winners. His old friend, Chef Paul Bocuse, presented Keller with the Legions medallion in a 2011 ceremony in New York City. What influence do you think his Marine background might have had on the discipline with which you approach your craft? Taking his most . So he has to be able to motivate them. How did you get started in the restaurant business? We sat in their kitchen in their house next door. They agreed to take $5,000 in escrow. Shortly after, he opened a second Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay. It was part of our culture, part of our philosophy, part of the philosophy that we had embraced from Don and Sally Schmitt. You know, Everybody wants casual food now. It wasnt so much casual food that they wanted, it was more of a casual price that they really wanted. Chef Bios: Thomas Keller. Then the hard work of attracting investors began. And some friends of mine, who were very influential in my move, were moving to California and they said, Come to California and try it out. At the same time a gentleman named Bill Wilkinson, who I had a brief conversation with about four years earlier, he was opening a hotel in L.A. called Checkers. Roasted chicken, thats a simple thing to do, but its very hard. In our kitchen, for example, we have a sous-chef that would be what we call the A.M. When I wrote The French Laundry Cookbook, it was an important story for me to tell. But nonetheless I built my own little smoker out of an old refrigerator and cured and smoked my own salmon. And I thought, Wow, this may be a great opportunity for me. But each day, waking up each day finding some success kept me motivated to the next day. We had some in New York City, mostly in New York I would say. So it was really I was in a comfortable position in my living quarters, and I wasnt really spending a lot of money. So for me, there wasnt really a lot of awareness about opportunities outside of learning the trade in a kitchen. 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. When he was hired as chef de cuisine at La Reserve, he was the first American to lead one of New Yorks distinguished French restaurants. So we had to have a commercial bank loan. You work through service. He enjoyed the teamwork of a restaurant kitchen and resolved to become a professional cook. So thats where I chose to go. And it really truly is a learning, a place of learning. Thomas Keller: One of his favorite things to do was to sit in the parking lot early in the morning when our purveyors would bring their deliveries in. Why Do His Michelin Stars Make Him Unique? What college did you attend for that short while? 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. So I had to go back to Serge because I didnt have any money, and I had to ask Serge to satisfy the tax lien, which my portion of it was considerable. But now I had to actually act on it, that dream, and make it reality. You have lunch. And yet you have risen to the highest of stature of culinary greatness. I needed to have the knowledge and the skill in order to prepare it. You dont know. Back to the first cookbook you received as a gift from your mom. 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. Start with your all-time favorite recipe from your favorite cookbook. Theres a lot of great chefs out there who can do a lot of great things, but to be consistent 300 days a year lunch and dinner over and over and over and over again is really for me what defines greatness. So I said, Yes, chef. And so that began the day of our quest to get on the podium. At the same time, be able to do my homework when needed, be able to function as a young person and still keep busy. Our money ran out and I left and went to work at Caf du Parc, and the poor guys had to kind of lick their wounds and go back to being flight attendants. Thats just what you do. In 2006, the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group continued to expand, adding the family-style restaurant Ad Hoc in Yountville, as well as outposts of Bouchon Bakery in Las Vegas, and Bouchon Bakery & Caf in New York. You had to get the glassware to the bartenders so they could do their job. Very few people in our country even knew that there was an American culinary team representing our country in Lyon every two years at this competition of 23 other nations. So that they could plate the food. Thomas Keller stands in front of the original exterior wall of the French Laundry in Yountville. Now Fernand Point was at his time in his era, which was the 30s and 40s he was the greatest chef in France, and therefore of course, the greatest chef in the world. He was that kind of came from that kind of generation. And if we do those three things right, what happens? It had become part of the fabric of restaurants in Napa Valley, and certainly of Yountville. After two years, he moved to Rhode Island, working first as chef de partie at the Clarke Cooke House, and the following summer at the Dunes Club in Narragansett. So I didnt have rent to pay. That rabbit, which gave up its life, I had to make sure that I utilized it in the best way I could and every bit of it. And cheese, the cheese cart always comes by in France, and you have so many selections. This was my first three-star restaurant, and I walked in there thinking that I dont know what I was thinking. And I shouldnt say my first job, my first job in a formal kitchen was as a commis. Expectations do get in the way. It was the Americans on the podium. Armed with his investors contributions, Keller secured a bank loan and a federal small business loan. Had I known everything that I was going to have to do over the course of the next 18 months, I would have given up right away. Testosterone is raging and youre with all these its a group. We have to be able to give them options but restrict their initial choice to something that we believe they would enjoy. Serge was my only investor (in Rakel) so his life was impacted by the failure of Rakel. His grandson is American. The parmesan was the grated kind that you found in the green shaker. So our job is to make sure that were choosing those ingredients of the moment. 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? My first three-star experience in France was just like that. It was really only on Saturday and Sunday that I kind of had to support myself through eating and/or entertaining myself. It was a normal thing and it still is today. Michelin came in 2006. And those six disciplines are what we do every day as cooks, and I embrace that. On my makeshift desk was I clipped out of The New York Times during this time during this period in my life there was an article which was titled Having a Dream Is Hard. Every day after school hed come home and watch Graham Kerr or Julia Child. Now I think it would be casual fine dining. My oldest brother was here at the same time. A community college in Palm Beach. I wonder where that ambition came from to be the best, and why didnt you decide to go to school for that? Im sure my mother bought it for me because of the quality of the book, not necessarily the quality of the content. I chose to go into the kitchen. So you have chef electricians. And during my time working for him and of course I was just a lowly cook so Im not sure why I was having this kind of conversations with him but the conversations were really about cooks and our career and our profession. I went to move to Paris in 1983 so I had been cooking now for almost a decade. And I walked on the property. It certainly is very gratifying to see the interest now. Youre American. We all learned that we had to be aware of the demographics and not just what we wanted to do, but what those around us really wanted to eat. Alice Waters had opened Chez Panisse, and since then the influence of that sort of sourcing, that farm-to-table cuisine, has spread far and wide. FAQs How did Thomas Keller become a Michelin Star chef? Thomas Keller: Rakel. I remember she served me on that day. Keller still believed that to become the chef he wanted to be, he needed to study French cuisine at the source by working in Frances great restaurants. [1], In 2005, he was awarded the three-star rating in the inaugural Michelin Guide for New York City for his restaurant Per Se, and in 2006, he was awarded three stars in the inaugural Michelin Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area for The French Laundry. I was thinking that, I dont know, fireworks. It was like it was it just shocked us all. But at the time, I wanted to get out into the world. Thomas Keller: Its pretty extraordinary when someone with the capacity, with the authority, with the attention that Ruth is able to get says that you are the most exciting place to eat in America. Were committed to one another. Thats the system that has been in place since Escoffier codified The French kitchen in the early 1900s. You had to do different things at different times of the day, which began which were part of the ritual of your job. He started his culinary journey young -- at 15, he was already working as an apprentice pastry chef at the Relais of Poitiers hotel. Were they going to be Americans? So I was a little further ahead than some of the other stagiaires that were there who were much younger than I, who were more worried about how to make a veal stock or how to turn a vegetable or different things that are basic that I had already learned. Its that social engagement, that interaction around a dinner table that to me is the most important. Thomas Keller: No, not really. The chef has recently come under fire for praising a major Donald Trump donor. Remember, it wasnt that long that we missed it. It was a Frenchman, and he would bring me 12 rabbits beautifully dressed every week. So you can see there was a wide range of investment. Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. 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. Thomas Keller: I wish I could say there were, but no. Paul Bocuse said it very well. So Bill is then taking his expertise and skill to L.A., bought a hotel downtown, renamed it Checkers, and brought in me. The highest priority for us is that we are able to reach our own expectations. I wanted to see new things. So I set my sights high.