I've just spent my "weekend" at Bodega Bay - the fog-drenched sun over the Pacific, the hard-pan beach giving way to soft sand and wind-blown grasses, the clamoring of sea gulls taunting the land-dwellers as they skate along air currents high above the surf... Oh, and golf. You see, there has to be golf to make this experience truly real for me. I'm so weak....
Moving on.
The recipe for the success of The French Laundry was born from a life of dedication, foibles, gratitude, skyrocketing success and humility. Thomas Keller was born the year that the greatest of the French chefs, Fernand Point, died. 1955. From these lives has come the "Pursuit of Perfection". It is a process of "Inspiration - Consistency – Precision of Execution – Repetition - Ritual". Not a direct quote but a summation of what I have read, observed and felt while spending time in this incredible environment. The sense of dedication is overwhelming and, although I've thought this to be a little trite, life-altering.
Yes, indeed this is the experience of a lifetime (as Donna from Loveland stated). It won't be enough. There is so much more. I would still like to spend time with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck in England (one of the other stages that I was accepted in to) - as well with Jacques Pepin and Andre Soltner and M. Point himself! Perhaps in another etheral kitchen where the gas will always be "on" and they'll be a never-ending supply of foie gras, Chateau Haut-Brion and spaghetti & meatballs...
In reality this is a lifetime of experiences in two months…everything is so familiar to what I've tried to accomplish in my kitchens - yet at TFL it is so detailed and just...perfect. In fact, just attempting to live up to the expectations is daunting, nervous, frustrating and in a daily quest of perfection - exhausting. What I spend my time thinking and pondering on, is how best to utilize this opportunity. What causes this place to be so good? I do have the answer to that. It is a declaration and a blueprint of success that I'll implement everywhere I land. In my plans for 12Seasons, at Assignments Restaurant, at Team Buildings, with the students and faculty at The Art Institute and with my clients at The French Manner… More on that in another blog.
In 1999 TFL Cookbook appeared on shelves and shook up my culinary world. I was introduced to it by Brad Watson, a chef associate. Now, ten years in the making I see great differences from TFL of '99 versus the observations I've made in '09. When I visited TFL on 29 September 1999 the same Chef’s Tasting menu (which I still have and revere its existance) was listed at $95.00 per person, with services included. It is, in 2009, two and one-half times more expensive (at $240.00 per person) with services included, of course. So, what is the difference? Appearances matter. The food is much more polished, refined and exacting. There has been a decade-long journey; "Inspiration - Consistency – Precision of Execution – Repetition - Ritual". The difference between pictures of particular items in the cookbook of 1999 to the real plated menu items in 2009 is astounding. It is as if the food has grown up and become more regal, having ascended to a throne of culinary magnificat! The eggshells are much more precise. The brunoise is more perfect than ever (an on-going effort for this apprentice). The pluches of herbs are perfect. The introduction of Sous Vide technology has changed the color landscape of dishes to impart a palette of uncanny brillance. You have to see it in person to appreciate the clarity of spectrums...
Finally, for this entry, I share with you the wisdom of "P.S." who has opened the doors to the home I am staying at and just this evening imparted a direct-hit on the magnitude of this "life-changing" experience. It was said, "It’s like a baseball wanna-be wishing they could be on the field at Yankee Stadium, or a violinist to be in the orchestra with Leonard Bernstein at the Lincoln Center or an actor living their dream on stage with the cast of The Phantom of the Opera….that’s what it is like to be at TFL. It’s about being there, the place of your dreams, its the top of the heap. You’ve aspired to be with one of your heroes – and you made it there". Thanks P.S. - I am indebted to you...
This experience has thusly reiterated and reinforced everything I have believed to be true about our business, myself - and certainly what I knew about TFL. Seeing the food production, the culinary concepts and strategic processes in action has created a different set of professional emotions that I was not expecting. One still has to move fast, yet work slowly. Having to produce at that level can be, and often is, daunting. I’ve seen the difference in the product of 2009 and the photographs of the food in 1999. TFL has grown up and become much more fine and sophisticated. Isn't that our goal, as cooks, in life as well...? Peace.
~R
