Daniel Boulud (who again I have written about before) is the consummate New York restaurateur. His pedigree is almost unmatched in the foodie world of New York City. As a chef given free range at Le Cirque his pedigree and skill became ever present and obvious.
Reading his book; “Cooking in New York City” I was in awe of what he has accomplished in a very limited time frame. The recipes in this book are both informative and look quite fun. While at the same time reveal the inner workings of a top notch Chef mind.
He says; “A great meal starts in the market… the fate of natural products hangs on nature’s whims. The marketplace tells the record of those events more surely than any written chronicle.” Truly a profound statement. One that seems second nature but I have not come across it so succinctly.
“Ideas are born in the market. An ingredient will speak to the chef, demanding in some natural, non evident language that it be served up.” This is something I have always believed. When C and I go shopping it is less about a preconceived notion of what I want to cook and more about which ingredients cry out to me to be paid attention to. Intuition in this sense has a lot to do with the way that I personally cook.
About specials he says; “Tonight’s specials – the serendipitous creations that surprise and delight Chef and diner alike – will somehow come out of the alchemic reaction of chefly inspiration and raw material.”
From the book I was also able to discern that during the day at Boulud he has 45 cooks, bakers and assistants between the hours of 6 am and 5 pm. This to me is an incredible number as I consider that at Reservation with its 3 restaurants we had no more than twenty or so cooks at any one time. This puts into perspective the work that gets done by him and his team.
One of his more interesting statements; “A restaurant is not just a kitchen and a dining room. A restaurant is a process, a piece of software, a way of organizing the efforts of scores of people and hundreds of ingredients and having them all come together as if nature had decried it.” I agree but also think that what I have seen and know intrinsically there is no way that nature decried it. Though at times it may seem that way. He says; “The fury of the kitchen belies its inextricable orderliness.”
His tasting menu consists of 16 dishes over 8 courses with 9 different wines. No small feat and it opens my imagination to endless possibilities for when I have my own restaurant.
Are you dreaming big and inspired?
A la prochaine
SDM
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