“Oh, my goodness. It’s all about
balance, I think, both in lifestyle
and in the kitchen. But managing a
career and family — that’s a hard thing to do. Some people would say
that it’s impossible. Me, Sally Schmitt. I certainly tried. I was one of the
first California cooks to cook real California food. Talk about California cuisine. Of course, Alice Waters,
with Chez Panisse. Wolfgang Puck — really
big for a while — packaged food, TV show. Thomas is another one — Thomas Keller.” “I’m Thomas Keller, and
this is my master class.” “Chef Thomas Keller
created and oversees some of the world’s most
acclaimed restaurants, including the French Laundry.” “The French Laundry.” “French Laundry —” “The French Laundry.” “The French Laundry.” “The best restaurant
in the world. Twice, they have done that.” “That’s Thomas Keller.” “Thomas Keller has won just
about every award you could imagine.” “— whole constellation
of Michelin stars.” “Well, there was no Thomas
Keller in those days. It was our French Laundry. You don’t know that story. I was born in Roseville,
outside of Sacramento, in 1932. Major trains came through
there to be iced down. My father worked
for the ice plant. They made, well,
huge ice cubes. It keeps the produce cold
on the way from California to the East Coast. That was their refrigerator.” “So that the fruit
— oranges, apples — can be rushed to the market.” “On the PFE — Pacific Fruit Express —” “The lifeblood of the nation.” “That was the beginning of the
whole supermarket situation, and the connection with
our food went missing. Everything became less
local and more commercial. Meanwhile, in Roseville, we
were living off the land. From lettuce to potatoes, we
had a big vegetable garden. It was hard work,
physically, but it was a little bit of heaven. With my dad at the
ice plant, my mom — she had her work
cut out for her. She taught me how to take
pride in being a woman. The work we did was as
important as anything that any man would do. We were a food-centric family. Parties revolved
around food — braised meats, vegetables, and
a lot of citrus, of course. Everything in season. It was California
cuisine, without ever hearing the term. And I learned, at
my mother’s knee, to produce a dinner
all by myself. When I graduated from
high school at 16, my father wanted
me to stay at home. But my mother
put her foot down and said, no, she needs
to get out of here and see the rest of the world. I was a home ec major at
University of California Davis — very academic. The science of cooking is
really what they taught — what makes egg whites
do what they do. But there weren’t women
chefs in those days. Julia Child as we know
her didn’t exist yet.” “This is Julia Child. Bon appétit.” “The goal was to get
married and have a family. I had met Don. One of the reasons that I
turned out to be such a good cook — he ate
everything with gusto. I could try
anything out on him, and he always found
something good in it. Also, he liked me. We just immediately
fell in love. And after a few years, we
made the move from the Central Valley to Napa.” “Napa Valley.” “We’re in Napa.” “Napa Valley.” “Napa Valley.” “Napa Valley.” “Napa Valley.” “One of California’s
finest communities.” “Napa Valley in the 1960s — good food, famous
wine, buckets of money. Oh, no. No. At that time, California
wines were just not very well known. Yountville — it was
just a spot in the road. And then, there was a
thriving liquor situation. So you want to drive slowly,
because you don’t want to run over any drunk people
lying in the gutter. That’s the state of
the town when we moved. It wasn’t a town. It became a town. When we got there, we had
moved with five children. I kind of had done my bit
as a good wife and mother, and was ready to spread
my wings a little further. My aim at that point was
running a restaurant. Because I knew I could do it. So we went to look
at this property, this little building
that was on the corner, a sharp corner, almost
out on the street. Built of fieldstone — somehow, it kept
its name from years ago when it was actually
a French laundry. All the crooked walls,
gorgeous location. Don and I had our
eye on that building from the very beginning
in Yountville. But the owners didn’t want
to sell, so it stayed empty. Around that time, there was
a big influx in Napa Valley, of the next generation — I call them kids — who started to work to put
California wines on the map. They had very good palates,
and they were hungry. It was a no-brainer. Don and I opened
a little cafe. We called it the Vintage Cafe. We served hamburgers
and milkshakes, fresh and really local. It was good. It became apparent
that people started to come to Yountville. And Yountville — it
didn’t have a food scene, except our cafe. So within a year or so,
we had lines out the door. We just grew. Opened the Chutney Kitchen. Added catering,
a dinner series, luncheon for the Napa
Valley Vintners every month. They just loved everything. But I found myself relegated
to the office, checking food costs. I simply didn’t
want to do that. I wanted to be able to
stir and taste the soup. Around that time, a friend
who waited on tables for us — Lorraine — came in and
whispered in my ear. Guess what, Sally? The French Laundry
is for sale. Well, opening a restaurant
with five children — we were crazy. In ‘78, opening night, we
literally kick the carpenter out just in time for
me to start prep work. I was the chef. Don, the front man. All the kids, too — Kathy and Karen were on
the floor as waitresses. Kathy did the flowers. Johnny was in the
kitchen helping me. Eric was washing dishes,
and Terry, our youngest, helped as well. So it was pretty much
a family operation. $12 per person — going big-time. [CHUCKLES] I was successful in
putting everything together in the right place. Start complex, follow
it with simple, and then more complex — texture, color,
flavor, balance. Local ingredients,
everything in season. And then, pile that high
with good conversation. It was a little bit of heaven. One of my compliments
that I cherished the most was when somebody tells
me that they ate dinner with us at the French
Laundry years ago. They’d say, I could tell
you just what we had. We started out
with ginger shrimp, with mustard and chutney. And then, there was that
beautiful duck liver pâté. For the entree, there was
a choice of braised oxtails or Zanzibar duck — and then, followed
by fresh salad, with just lemon
juice and olive oil. For dessert, cheesecake
and coffee pots de crème. You want more? You’re hungry, huh? It’s fun to feed
people good food. It’s just — it’s
very pleasing. We opened full and were
simply full from then on. Weddings, events — we knew
everybody in the dining room. We wanted that spirit. We embraced that spirit. Julia Child came two or three
times to the French Laundry — at that point, as famous
as any modern-day chef. And one time, she
burst into the kitchen and said, My dear, what
was in that dessert sauce? Now, I said, butter,
sugar, and cream. She said, butter! I should have known! [CHUCKLES]:” “Sticks of unsalted butter — delicious!” “16 years, we were open. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Somebody was proposing to
open a French Laundry chain. He wanted to open another
one in another city — San Francisco, New York,
and maybe go from there. If I were to do a
three-star restaurant, I think I probably could do
it if I set my mind to it. But it would throw my
life out of balance. There’s no way around it. And I value my lifestyle too
much to fall into that trap. So the French
Laundry was for sale. Enter Thomas Keller. This really charming
young chef. He made a name for
himself in New York. And then, after a
series of mishaps, he was down on his luck. I don’t think he had,
literally, any money. Credit cards were
all maxed out. But he had a lot of
friends, and he obviously had ambition and his drive. Around that time, I was
in the kitchen, busy. And Thomas came and leaned
on my kitchen door that went out into my herb garden,
and stood there for a while and looked the kitchen
over and noticed around outside a little. He said that night, he
decided that’s what he wanted. This was his dream. We had our trepidation, but
if he thinks he can do it, let him try. We sold it.” “Chef Thomas Keller
created and oversees some of the world’s most
acclaimed restaurants, including the French Laundry.” “French Laundry —” “The French Laundry.” “And it would make Keller
a food world superstar, and turn Yountville into
a world-class destination for dining.” “The best restaurant
in the world.” “So he did it. He went on and on and on. He’s still going on and on. In high school, I was
always vice president. Vice president of everything. I gave the salutatorian
speech in both grammar school and high school. And when we graduated,
one of my best friends got the Outstanding Student
of the Year, whatever. The highest honor. I went home and cried. Yeah, I thought that I
should have it, you know. And my mother said, let her
have her moment of glory. Don’t worry. There will be moments
of glory for you. We were the lucky ones. We found a way of life
that we enjoyed every day. And Don was always there
for me, until the end. I call it going
out gracefully. And I think he
certainly did that. But I have lived that
life, and have had so much satisfaction from the
rewards from my family life, that I don’t need to be
the best chef in the world. I just don’t need that. Yeah. John and I, we’d
loved Thomas’s success. And he has always honored us
in ways that I don’t think many people would do. What more could
anyone ask for? Me, Sally Schmitt — one of the first
California cooks to cook real California food. Back when there
were no women chefs. But see, I didn’t want
to change the world. I just wanted to cook.”
