Culinary Idea Lab: Thomas Keller

Showing posts with label Thomas Keller. Show all posts

Per Se Kitchen Tour

There are 25,000 restaurants in New York, there are about 100 I should eat at. One of those restaurants is Thomas Keller's Per Se. I didn't get a chance to eat there this time but the staff was kind enough to give me a kitchen tour. I've eaten at Keller's restaurants, Bouchon in Las Vegas, Bouchon Bakery in New York and Ad Hoc in Yountville California. Memo to self - eat at Per Se and the French Laundry soon

As would be expected, the kitchen was impeccable. Plenty of working space by New York standards with a center cooking island plus an enormous staging area.

Entrance

Kitchen shots

This was interesting. It's a setup of all the chocolates they'll be serving for the night with descriptions next to each one so the staff can memorize them.

A view of NYC from outside the front of the restaurant which is located in the Columbus Circle area. One floor down from Per Se is the Bouchon Bakery.

Thomas Keller's Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Melange A Biscuits Avec Morceaux De Chocolat

I usually don’t do this; I’m not America’s Test Kitchen who methodically ranks food and kitchen equipment, but I have some very strong feelings about this so please stick with me on this post.

I was in Williams Sonoma yesterday doing my usual thing, browsing the cookware. In the back of the store there was a display with Thomas Keller’s cookie and cake mix along with some silicon bake ware and the Bouchon cookbook. I was elated and disturbed at the same time; I was thinking “noooo, not Keller too, endorsing pans and cookie mixes, aren’t there enough celebrity chefs doing this same thing?”

I then thought that if Keller was putting his name on something, and I’ve bought everything with his name on it, that it must be the best. Surely he wouldn’t just sell his name to some soulless dry mix company who cranks out millions of pounds of flavorless crap.

Please don’t let this be true, please don’t let the purist, Thomas Keller, join the throngs of celeb chefs selling their name on food, cookware and the menus of mega-chain restaurants serving food that doesn’t even come close to the acclaimed chefs style.

I must have looked like a nut job, starring at the display, walking away only to return and stare at it some more. “Can I help you sir” was said on multiple occasions…..you bet you can help me I’m thinking, help me understand how this is possible. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”……you bet I am, I’m looking for deep answers to deep questions.

OK, enough with the conflicting thoughts, I bought it because I’ve constantly been looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and at $18.00 for 12 small or 6 large cookies this was either going to be everything I would expect from Keller or it was going to be a huge failure that would lead to me undoubtedly hurling the cookies through the air.

Even as I checked out they said “is this all?”, as if to say, good god man you’ve been in here for a half hour and all you can find is a box of cookie mix? “Is this all?” it’s much more complicated than you might think, this will be a test with huge ramifications, does it have sole?, or is it a box of well marketed crap? I’ve eaten at several of Thomas Keller’s restaurants and I know how high the standard should be.

The mix.

The raw dough rounded up.

These were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten, I was making moaning noises as I ate them, it was pure pleasure. Add butter & egg to the packets in the box which included Callebaut chocolate chunks, sugar blend, flour packet and molasses. Now the work begins to develop a cookie with the same qualities. There are very few things as rewarding as a great chocolate chip cookie. Like most things that are great, they are simple; it just comes down to the quality of ingredients and the cooking process.

Today I’m a happy man because I realized that not everything that has a celeb chef’s name on it is mediocre. Keller has found a way to put high quality into a box and send it home with you so you can have a little piece of the Bouchon Bakery in your own kitchen.

Per Se

A chef friend of mine, Larry Bowen, sent me these pictures. A friend of his ate at Pers Se in New York for his 50th birthday. I usually don't post 3rd hand photo's but I couldn't resist posting pictures from a Thomas Keller restaurant.

SUNCHOKE "VELOUTE"
Pickled Sunchokes I ate it before I took the pictures

"OYSTERS AND PEARLS"
"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oystersand Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

ATLANTIC BONITO
Edamame, Pickled Ginger and Nikiri

WHITE TRUFFLE OIL-INFUSED CUSTARD
with "Ragout" of Perigord Truffles

Selection of 7 salts, house made salted butter and unsalted butter from Marin California

"PEACH MELBA"
Terrine of Hudson Valley Moulard Duck Foie GrasFrog Hollow Farm's Peaches, Peach Jelly, Pickled Red Onion,Cilantro Shoots, "Melba Toast" and Puffed Carolina Rice

SALAD OF HEIRLOOM CAULIFLOWER
Hadley Farm's Medjool Dates, Marinated Celery Branchand Summer Truffle "Aigre-Doux"

"PAVE" OF KINDAI BLUEFIN TUNA
Compressed Lemon Cucumber, Braised Radishes and Citrus "Ravigote"

PAN SEARED MAINE SEA SCALLOP
Sauteed Summer Squash, Toasted Pine Nuts, Roquette Leavesand Arugula Vinaigrette

FOUR STORY HILLS FARM'S "SUPREME DEPOULARDE CUITE EN COCOTTE"
"Cuisse de Poularde Farcie a la Mousse d'Estragon,"Brentwood Corn Kernels, Sweet Holland Peppers and "Jus de Poulet"

FOUR STORY HILLS FARM'S "SUPREME DEPOULARDE CUITE EN COCOTTE"
"Cuisse de Poularde Farcie a la Mousse d'Estragon,"Requested no corn

ELYSIAN FIELDS FARM'S "SELLE D'AGNEAU ROTIE ENTIERE"
"Petit Sale," Glazed Tokyo Turnips, Swiss Chard Ribs,Violet Artichokes, Picholine Olives and Lamb Jus

Dl BRUNO BROTHERS' "BURRATA"
Jewel Box Tomatoes, "Croutons de Pain de Campagne," Petite BasilandArmando Manni "Per Mio Figlio" Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2007

PLUM SORBET
Santa Rosa Plums, Ginger Pudding,Plum Consomme and Gingerbread Crisp

"PEANUT BUTTER AND MILK"
Bitter Chocolate Mousse with Salted Peanut Creamand Reduced Milk Ice Cream

"GLACE A LA FRAISE"
Strawberry "Biscuit," Toasted Almond "Panna Cotta"and Mint Syrup with Tristar Strawberry Ice Cream

"COFFEE AND DOUGHNUTS"
Cinnamon-Sugared Doughnuts with Cappuccino Semifreddo

Yogurt Pot Du Crème w/ Raspberry Sauce

Crème Brule

Truffles, Caramels, Hard Candies, Nougats

Banana Caramel selection from the Impressive Chocolate Tray. 18 Different Chocolates to Choose From

The View

The Thomas Keller Empire

Thomas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996 and the Best Chef in America in 1997, and the restaurant is a perennial winner or top 4 finisher in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World. In 2005, he was awarded the highest, three star rating in the inaugural Michelin Guide for New York for his restaurant per se, and in 2006, he was awarded three stars in the inaugural Michelin Guide to the Bay Area for his restaurant The French Laundry, making him one of only two chefs in the world with two simultaneous three-star restaurants.

Bouchon

Bouchon Bakery

French Laundry's garden

And last but not least The French Laundry

Ad Hoc

The building at 6476 Washington Street was originally intended to be a very different type of restaurant. While we were designing it we thought we'd experiment by opening a temporary restaurant and calling it Ad Hoc, which literally means, "for this purpose." The idea for Ad Hoc was simple - 5 days a week we'd offer a 4 course family style menu that changed each day, accompanied by a small, accessible wine list in a casual setting reminiscent of home. We wanted a place to dine for our community and ourselves. The decision to change over the restaurant, however, was taken out of our hands by our guests. The response was so positive, we simply couldn't close. So, in September, 2007, we decided to stay open permanently and now we're serving dinner 7 nights a week.