S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 17 gave the French Laundry 3.5 stars, the start of numerous accolades the restaurant and Keller would receive over the years. In 2007, the restaurant was given three Michelin stars. Chef Keller said the award he is most proud of is the French Légion d’Honneur. “You know, that’s the highest medal that a foreigner can receive,” said Keller. “And so to be able to be recognized by a country which I have always appreciated, always admired, to be recognized by that country, by that president, by those individuals, for having contributed significantly to their culture, is certainly a wonderful feeling.” W hen Keller purchased the property in 1994 he kept the name French Laundry to maintain its historical value, and to this day history is still evident in the most concealed ways. The door that welcomes its guests is adorned in an iconic blue finish. “It hasn’t always been blue. That used to be the kitchen door. If you remember the FL in its origins, none of this was here (gestures to kitchen area). The kitchen was where the reception area is now. In the first year, when we built this (new kitchen) and we were tearing down, when we were moving from this kitchen to this kitchen, and the contractors were demolishing Sally’s old kitchen, she had painted her hood blue, above the stove. And as I saw that walking out the door, I thought, you know, we should maintain a connection to the history of this restaurant and certainly to the history of Sally and her kitchen, so I painted the door blue. That was the color of Sally’s hood. It’s been there since 1995.” Moving forward into the next twenty years, Keller pointed out what is really important to him. “Really our core message is that we really value our relationship with our suppliers, our farmers, our fishermen, our foragers, our gardeners, because through them we are able to receive some of the most extraordinary products that are available,” said Keller. “And we have to understand that in order to receive those extraordinary products, we have to support them. Support them through consistency, support them through feedback, and support them financially. “We need to realize that we get what we pay for. And if we’re only willing to pay this amount of money, then that’s what we’re going to get. And we don’t really do that with our suppliers, we wanna make sure that they are able to continue to have a quality lifestyle and that they continue to supply us with extraordinary products. In order to get that we have to be there for them, supporting them in any way that they need support. And I would echo that with you, or anyone going into the grocery store. The farmers, fishermen and foragers of our country really need our support, and no longer can they survive with the idea of producing cheap food. And that’s why we have factory farming, and so we can have cheap food as long as we’re okay with factory farming. If we don’t want factory farming, it’s going to be more expensive, we’re going to have to pull our wallets out and say, yes, we’re willing to pay more. I think that’s something that’s been number one for us, and that’s something that’s not necessarily just about the FL, that’s been my philosophy almost my entire career. I think that something we also want to represent to our guests going into the twenty-first year is a restaurant that’s committed to our staff. And what that means is that we really want to hire the right people, we want to give them the right training, the right education, we want give them the right mentorship, because we truly believe that as generations go on, they are going to be the next leaders. And if we want them to be someone who is better than we are, then we have to give them that solid foundation. We have to prepare them to be better than us, because if we’re not preparing them to be better than us, then shame on us. “Ultimately it’s our guests. We need to make sure that they continue to have a wonderful experience here, one that hopefully always meets their expectations and sometimes even exceeds their expectations. And we want to do that because we feel that we have great resources in our professionalism through how we conduct ourselves. Our skills, our knowledge, our ability to evolve, be dynamic and be flexible. That’s what a good chef, a really good leader, has to be.” In his leisure time, Keller likes to golf and is taking up flying. When asked what his favorite food is he joked that wasn’t a fair question. “Roast chicken always resonates well with me,” he said. “I love roast chicken, I love the way it smells, the way it tastes, the way it feels. I like everything about it. It crosses all cultural and economic boundaries. In other words, all cultures eat chicken. And you know, whether you’re rich or whether you’re poor, you eat chicken. So it’s a universal dish that people enjoy and recognize, and I’ve had so many different experiences with it, so it’s about the memories. “That’s what food is all about.”
NVLife_SeptOct_2014
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