The reach of a restaurant: Thomas Keller at TEDxEast

good morning or good afternoon this is a certainly not my normal habitat usually there would be some stoves here and some refrigerators and countertops here cutting boards and knives and pretty violent environment with all the fires and the knives and young people running around you know on Red Bull these days supposed to coffee but here I am standing before you it's hard to believe that little more than a generation half ago chefs were considered domestic help by the US Department of Labor thanks to a lot of recognition the advent of food magazines food channels of course through supportive people like you we had now have a bonafide recognized profession and I'm standing here in front of hundreds of people to talk about a restaurant it's quite unique when you come to think about it I can't tell you how honored I am to be here some one of those things that some of the ask you 20 years ago where do you think we'll be now and I thought I'd have my own restaurant maybe a really good chef but standing on a stage of TEDx I've never think I'd be there who knew but I want to talk to you about what a restaurant is all about this connectivity which is the steam that's running through the conference today and what a restaurant is and how that connectivity relates to who we are and how we achieve what we achieve like introduced you to the French Laundry in Yafo California this is what you see when you come to our restaurant why because this is about you this is about you as an individual your experience at that restaurant but I see a lot of different things most of them are hundreds of individuals that are dedicated and committed to you only you you by yourself people ask me a lot of times about success and I thought about it for years and I realized that success is not about Fame is certainly not a about fort fortune recognition awards it's about memories about the memories that we collect throughout our lives and I'm sure each one of you have wonderful memories about things that you've done in your life and a lot of that was about success define success for me and certainly one of those memories or one of the biggest compliments I can receive is when a guest comes to our restaurant has dinner and then comes back to the kitchen or I meet them in the courtyard and they say chef this reminds me of and they go into this wonderful tale about an experience they had I don't know in the South of France in Paris and Italy and Spain or even in America a great experience that had in another restaurant and I can only hope that that individual goes on and has another great experience and says this reminds me of the French Laundry because therein lies the true meaning of success who what are we we're in the hospitality industry I hate to call it industry I haven't thought of a better word for it but that's what we do we we think about hospitality as something that comes from inside something that's innate something that comes from someplace in the heart something soulful you can teach hospitality but it doesn't have the same kind of impact as it does when it comes from someplace that's meaningful some compelling reason I'm a nurturer at heart I was speaking this one of our form or one of our fellow presenters last night and I brought that up as you know what I do is nurture people I found out long time ago what makes me happy is making you happy it's one of the most gratifying times of my life let's talk about cooking for them for a moment because that's what restaurants and chefs are all about right and cooking is a very simple equation it's about ingredients and execution I don't care if it's the French Laundry per se Danyelle cafe Boulud boo Shan ad hoc the diner down the street it's all defined by the ingredients that they receive and the way they execute of course our ingredients come from a wide source of individuals from all across the country K&J orchards in California bringing a stone fruit throughout the summer extraordinary couple who dedicated to peach trees plum trees persimmons of course soo-young Scanlan a young biochemist dairy scientist who decided to make cheese but with love of music she names the cheese after Ingrid Ben just a very interesting woman a Rhodes Scholar a woman who is a Russian literature expert who lives in Stonington Maine and sells lobsters to some of the best chefs in the country I remember my first experience with Ingrid was here in New York City over 20 years ago when she began selling to a chef at the Bernadin and of course her name showed up an article I called her I said would you sell me lobsters and she wasn't interested in selling me lobsters or any fish he should know who I was she didn't know what my standards were took me two years to get my first halibut from her and since then we've been connected wonderful lady meaningful supports a vast array of fishermen in Maine Snake River farms in Idaho one of the premier cattle ranches in our country bringing some of the highest quality beef to the tables that we've seen in a long time Connie green a wonderful woman who is in Napa forges mushrooms not only herself but has this whole underground network of people who go out in the middle of the night scouring the forest for all these wild mushrooms that they bring us a very special woman here Diane st. Clair who lives in orell Vermont and named her farm the animal farm I wonder why extraordinary woman read my cookbook about nine years ago and thought well I'll send him some of my butter I've got four cows I make butter I get up every morning at 5:00 a.m. to milk those cows milk them again in the afternoon so I can make some butter I'll send it to Keller and see what he thinks about it I received it FedEx showed up a little baggy with three little balls of butter I tasted it I said wow this is extraordinary I said Diane who are you why did you send me this butter and how much do you make she said well I thought from reading your book I thought you'd be the perfect chef to showcase my butter I make 15 pounds a week I said I'll buy it start sending in 15 pounds a week she had three Cal's at the time Daisy lightning and scooter they produced our butter we open per se I said Diane we have a dilemma we're gonna need to get more cows she did the only time that she has off in the entire year seven days a week twice a day milking her cows the only time that she gets to get away from that is during the summer when they're capping three years ago I get a beautiful framed picture of a young cow named Keller it's that okay I have a cow named after me and a child Manoli Orchard in Hawaii John mood we have something in common John and I went to the same high school in South Florida several years apart he's a little bit older than I am he became an airline pilot in Hawaii and decided that he was going to buy a peach palm orchard 25 acres sustainable and started selling hearts of palm he harvested the suckers doesn't doesn't doesn't kill the main tree he harvest the suckers and he's able to supply us for the past 10 years with fresh hearts of palm extraordinary John sterling caviar the Sacramento Delta where sturgeon have thrived for centuries sterling caviar now produces a sustainable product that we've been working with them over the past 10 years to continuously raise the standards to replace the wild caviar that we used in the past became so rare Don and Sally Schmidt the original owners of the French Laundry and philo New York at the apple farm every week Don drives down four or five cases of apples for us at the French Laundry that relationship continues today Jacobson farms here's an interesting couple Peter and Gwen you would never know it but they're dentists from San Francisco who bought an acre orchard in Yoel California and supply us with some of the most amazing fruit that's available nine varieties of figs three varieties of peaches nectarines plums it's just extraordinary he's gone as far as certifying the snails that come out of his farm as organic we harvest our snails organic snails from Jacobson farm and of course a man that I'm so proud of Tucker Taylor our own gardener at the French Laundry we have a three acre piece of land across the street where he cultivates and harvest of wide variety of vegetables not only for the French Laundry but also Bouchon ad hoc and we even sent some to New York once in a while so they can see what or truly amazing radish really is of course Elysian Fields farm Keith Martin a banker who decided to become a lamb er I don't understand that I still don't understand he tried to explain to me dozens of times why would a banker want to become a lamb er he did he's established a protocol for raising his animals in a holistic way that's now patented it's extraordinary that he has now eight farmers in western Pennsylvania Eastern Ohio who have adopted this protocol and now raise lambs not only for us but for some of the other chefs around the country these are just an example of a group of extraordinary individuals who are dedicated and committed to bringing those products and ingredients to our restaurant for you and of course it's not just about food ingredients if you think about ingredient we have so many other things the wine list I don't know how many thousands of bottles we have on our list representing dozens of countries hundreds of producers and you think about the generations of individuals that are part of that network as well and then of course the environment that we have at our restaurant whether it's the architecture the interior design the linens the China the glassware the silver it goes on and on and then people you don't even see it may not even realize that are there they're working everyday for you reservationist administrative staff Human Resources public relations accountants all making sure that our restaurant runs in a way that's going to be efficient effective so that we in the restaurant we cooks we servers we saw Malays can give you the experience that you expect the second part of the equation execution what is execution execution is about skills skill levels right what defines a great chef what defines a great server what defines a great his skill level and what we do at the restaurant three things that are critical hiring making sure that we identify the right individuals to come to our restaurant I don't interview everybody but I try to get involved in the culinary side of it because I am a cook and when I ask a young culinarian why why do you want to work here why do you want to cook a chef and I can't tell you how passionate I am about what I do I know okay that's interesting passionate I'm passionate as well I'm passionate about the first asparagus I see the first baby spring lamb that comes in the back door yes I'm really passionate about that but after a week or two what happens my passion kind of subsides it goes down a little bit because I've already seen it that's a bit experiencing for a couple weeks kind of over it a little bit but I still have amazing asparagus that's still coming in the back door I still have amazing spring lamb what is it that's important to me in recognizing that individual that he should be working in our restaurant or what is it in me that continues to drive me this desire desire desire Trump's passion every time it's nice to be passionate and passion is going to help move that desire higher but when that passion is not there what do you need that desire that strong sense of desire training another important element in execution we've hired the person we've made and realize that passion is not the most important thing that he better find that something inside that desire that's going to continue to drive him for the next 20 25 30 35 years in this industry we want to train them is in the door we want to give them the training that they need in order to be able to execute the expectations that we have for you seminars purveyors come in suppliers come in Keith Martin comes in Armando money comes in they talk about what they do how they do it what they produce what their points are what their vision is seminars wine seminars knowing the Napa Valley but around the world we send our staff out our teams that go out to to do to do these seminars an amazing vast library of culinary books wine books service manuals we write we write our own absolutely we write our own service manuals update them on a yearly basis making sure that the team has update information of course the third part mentorship that man on the left role in henan taught me why I cook he was my mentor he's my mentor today mentorship is such an important part of success we continue to mentor our staff we assign mentors we ask you who you want your mentor to be the process that we embrace wholeheartedly another part the tools we have to have the right tools people always talk to me what should I buy you know what kind of tools should i buy by the best go out and buy the best because the best to last the best hat makes a difference well there's the stove the saute pan the knife the cutting board the strainer the spoon I don't care what it is get the best get what you're comfortable they'll last forever leadership leadership leadership becoming a leader giving the team those individuals the confidence and courage they need to execute Jonathan Ben oh here some of you may know Jonathan denno he began at the French Laundry in 1995 and I shot in 1996 later became chef of per se today he has his own restaurant Jonathan came to me as a young chef de Partie a chef de Partie is an individual who works on a specific station in this case Jonathan was the fish cook he came to me one day and Jonathan does at sea said chef he does that when he's making a point you points out you with all four fingers and his thumb underneath chef's I mean that you know you know he's serious I'm I'm not going to have a cutting board on my station tonight and I'm working I mean I'm busy you know it's back in the old days when would everybody had a lot to do and and not that we don't today but I was more immersed in it and I'm thinking okay whatever you know that's that's interesting you not gonna have a cutting board or any stations yes I'm going to be so prepared I'm going to be so prepared I have so much confidence in my ability to have my me--some class done that I'm not going to need a cutting board now every chef de Partie and every restaurant has a cutting board on their station some of them need a cutting board the butcher needs a cutting board to carve the state jonathan was doing fish everything's in place everything is ready to go I was just to do is cook and serve it I said okay that's fine don't have a cutting board at the end of the service flawless it's become the new standard for that station because Jonathan bento had the confidence and courage to step outside of what was the norm in any restaurant and say I'm going to do better I'm going to create a new standard we all know that it's not about any one individual it's about a team we look we give credit to those individuals whether it's the quarterback the CEO or the chef for that matter for everything that is accomplished I love to be part of a team a team to me is a family it's a way of achieving a higher goal than ever better we can thought about but it's also a lot of fun it's our soccer team of course I'm the coach we also love to share success celebrate them with each other can you imagine celebrating a success on your own when we receive an award it's a it's about that celebration let's get the champagne out let's Pat each other on the back let's give me everybody a hug let's celebrate that I looked through the San Francisco Giants now yeah here's a team that nobody thought could do what they did but it was through determination and teamwork that they were able to achieve something that nobody thought they were ever capable of doing teamwork it's all about that teamwork there's this idea out there that Thomas Keller is this you know all-seeing person and I think that's pretty prevalent with most chefs you know we go to the market in the morning buy I pick out all the produce run over to the fish market get all the fish go to the butcher get all the butcher get all the meat come back we fabricate it all we cook it all we don't eat we don't see if we barely breathe we were there that's it we do everything but that's not that's not the case that's not the case it's about the group of individuals who are focused and determined to bring you a great experience we talked about that that culture that culture certainly did begin with me the philosophy of what we do and one of the cornerstones of our philosophy is just do a little better than yesterday come to work with that idea and goal in your mind just a little better I don't care if your shoes a little shinier you learn how to tie your apron a little tighter your knife is a little sharper your brunoise x' is a little more exact just a little better than yesterday that's all you have to do and as the days go on the week's go on the months go on the years goes on you end up someone like me one of the most meaningful decisions I've ever made at the French Laundry 16 years ago was to change the menu every day every day something that was almost unheard of and certainly something that wasn't practiced at the extent that we do we get together at the end of the night all the chefs - chef - parties the sous chef around the table with our lists of the ingredients that we've ordered Tucker's farmers lists are the garden list all these different pieces of information we have and we start to collaborate lis work on the menu for the next day we have a rule where there's no repetition so during the evening someone say it's corn season someone say someone on the meat station say I got corn which means that at the end of the night when we start to do the menu he's already dipped the corn because no one else can use corn the result of that is extraordinary that menu is outlined the night before the sous chef comes in the morning at 5:30 he looks at the menu he starts to verify the quality of the ingredients that are coming into the restaurant he's able to modify the menu as we go the efforts is extraordinary green tape just a little story about green tape it's something that we use everywhere taping down the past taping down our menus we tear the wheat or the green tape for 10 years we tore the green tape for 10 years chef's like Grant Achatz Eric ziebold Jonathan bento tore the green tape well we're getting ready to open per say a young group of people were coming to New York City to inoculate this new group I gave them a pep talk I said I want you to go there and so set an example make an impact a young expedite at the time Zion qu L who taped down the past at the French Laundry every night had this in his mind I'm not sure what he was thinking February 16 2004 he's taping down the past at per se what does he do pulls out a pair of scissors and cuts the tape jaws drop it becomes a standard for our restaurant becomes a standard for our restaurant hiring training mentoring and confidence courage rapid rate of evolution it's all for you we want to make sure that your experience is one that's compelling and memorable I've been doing this for 35 years it's something that I focus my life on this sat on my desk every day as I was trying to purchase the French Laundry having a dream is hard living is harder my biggest asset at the time was my ignorance had I known what I was have to go through I never would have done it don't be afraid don't be afraid to fail be afraid to try we have mentored hundreds of individuals that have come through our restaurant over the past 16 years our legacy is through them and what they've done in their own restaurants people like Eric Siebel Grant Achatz Jonathan Bono Corey Lee that continues this connection with who we are as culinarians as restaurant tours as nurtures and we do it all for you thank you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 181,613

Rating: 4.8401084 out of 5

Keywords: tedx talk, Thomas, ted talks, KELLER, tedx, tedx talks, ted talk, ted, ted x

Id: QC_hDKzm900

Length: 24min 23sec (1463 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 11 2010

Reddit Comments

[u/JJTheJoolzPlane]

The comment about tearing or cutting the tape is hilarious. Great little video

[u/I-XIV-CDXXXIX]

Things I never knew I needed: Thomas Keller knowing the names of the cows who make his butter.