Restaurant Superchefs: Do You Know Where Your Chef Has Gone?
Welcome back!
I am a big fan of chef driven restaurants. If the chef is in the kitchen, it’s going to be a great experience. If, by chance, the chef is somewhere else that evening, it may or may not be a great experience. I understand that almost all chefs will assure you that the system works even in their absence, and the kitchen won’t miss a beat. I don’t know about that. That’s why so many guests will ask if the chef is in the kitchen when making a reservation.
I understand the business part of it, and if I happened to be a big-time chef, I would do what most do (Bobby Flay; Wolfgang Puck; Todd English; Alain Ducasse; Charlie Palmer, etc., etc.). My restaurants would be in New York, Las Vegas, Atlantic City and beyond. It’s part of the game, and most of the time it actually works. Having said that, I often wonder if people who dine in their restaurants really think the big guys are in the kitchen. Maybe that’s why I have so much respect for the late Jean-Louis Palladin. When he opened in Vegas, he actually moved there.
The successful chefs with multiple restaurants continue to create opportunities for even more success, but the downside remains the obvious. One can’t be everywhere, and the dining public won’t tolerate anything less than great if the chef is too busy to actually be there. It becomes a major balancing act and adding locations can be a disaster just waiting to happen.
My real problem happens to be the concept of “consulting” chefs. The idea is perfectly acceptable, but it goes over the line when an owner pretends the big-name chef is cooking on a daily basis. My town was once filled with consulting chefs and most have now departed. Big names can help, but they certainly won’t guarantee success.
I have to give some credit to Chef Eric Ripert of La Bernardin in Manhattan. His name is now part of the Philadelphia restaurant scene (Ten Arts by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton). He had the good sense to immediately place his sous chef from La Bernardin as chef de cuisine in his new kitchen. Jennifer Carroll grew-up in Philadelphia and she is a graduate of the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. There is no question that Chef Carroll will make it or break it basically on her own. Chef Ripert will undoubtedly make some occasional appearances, but the future of Ten Arts is in the hands of a chef who will be there on a daily basis. There is no pretending, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
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I agree that the absent Chef has affects on both the customer and the employee.
When guests call they actually think that our “star chef” is making their food, and asks for us to tell Chef that they are coming in. We just follow the lead on those calls.
Employees can get pretty upset too, that the CHEF is receiving all the credit for their hard work.