Europe's Chefs in America

By JULIETTE ROSSANT The flood of Europe's top chefs opening restaurants across America has drawn the attention of the British press. The Times of London commented recently that "Haute cuisine has gone global and chefs are luxury brands opening 'branches' in big cities in the same way as retailers such as Louis Vuitton or Giorgio Armani." No news there for anyone who has read Super Chef (see p. 174) or Superchefblog. What is interesting about The Times' article is gaping hole in this British revision of history regarding the flight of Europe's great toques across the Atlantic. The phenomena of European chefs coming as celebrities to America and opening restaurants in different countries started with Georges-Auguste Escoffier (see Super Chef, p. 3) . In fact, Escoffier visited America several times to promote the expansion of his Ritz Hotel empire. Nouvelle cuisine chefs like Paul Bocuse also came here. Chefs go where their audience and the money is (see Super Chef pp. 4-5) The Times article mentions thatGordon Ramsay, Alain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon, and Alan Yau all are opening (or have opened) restaurants in New York City, capital of branding. The article opens the decades-old debate about whether great chefs should open multiple restaurants, and if the restaurants will be as good as when the chefs have only one: Each global chef is asked: who does the cooking when you are not there? It's a question that makes Thomas Keller squirm a bit. "I am conflicted. The pure definition of a chef is someone who runs a kitchen, not someone who runs more than one kitchen." Ramsay has an answer. "It's the same f****** people who cook when I am there. A fine-dining restaurant is not one guy with a frying pan cooking everything. The chef stands at the pass and he conducts the chefs de partie who are preparing the fish, the meat, the sauces. When he is not there, he is there in spirit. He knows what is going on at almost every moment because he trained everyone." He grins: "If you close your eyes you will not be able to tell if I or any other well-known chef is there." Who is right? Previous articles: Gordon Ramsay: Say No to Celebrity! Michael Ruhlman Frumps Wikipedia [Chefs & Branding complete - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog