Thomas Keller
Thomas Keller
Thomas Kelleris an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The restaurant is a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChef
Date of Birth14 October 1955
CityPendleton, CA
CountryUnited States of America
ultimately, the system proved instrumental in fostering an undeniably unified restaurant staff.
Well, it took me twenty-seven years, as long as I've been cooking.
We realized the imbalance of earnings and that a change needed to occur in order to provide everyone in the restaurant an opportunity to pursue their dreams,
For me, that's one of the important things about cooking. What was good enough yesterday may not be good enough today.
I am a perfect example of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps: My mom raised six kids by herself.
But the project, from beginning to end, was a little over two years, from the time we wrote the proposal to its publication.
It's nice to have the restaurants close by. It makes them easier to control and keep an eye on.
Now the restaurants have begun to catch up with the wine-making; there are numerous great restaurants in Napa Valley, and it's wonderful because the people are there for just that: great food and great wine.
Then, as the day progresses, depending on how the product is coming in - for instance, the fish man will fax us and say black bass is great - throughout the day, we'll also make judgment calls and adapt to what's available.
It's one thing you aspire to: someday, you'll be able to write a book.
Your idea of that dish has evolved, and if you're a cook, you can start thinking in different ways about it, maybe even a different way than I think about it.
No, it's funny, when I eat out it's not typically in the kind of restaurants people might imagine.
I hope the cooks who are working for me now are getting that kind of experience so they can use what they're learning now as a foundation for a great career.
We make sure we know the kitchen inside and out, where everything is. We get sort of crazy making sure everything goes off without a hitch.