Fishtales Magazine: A Sailfish Point Publication - Magazine - Page 19
Wasand
there
a specific
moment
I Heather
walk in, sitTinney:
at his desk,
in his
thick French
accent he
when
youare
realized
youafter
wanted
to become
a my
says,
What
you doing
graduation?
I told him
chef?
plan:
print out a bunch of resumes, hit every classical French
restaurant in Manhattan—La Côte Basque, Lutèce, La Grenouille,
Le Cirque,
of them.
Andpath,
he says,
Chef Ron
Gallo: all
It was
a long
butLa
I Côte Basque.
Jean-Jacques
a friend
of mine.
He pulls
his business
rememberisbeing
a kid;
I come
fromout
a big
Italian
card,
which
was
actually
a
postcard.
One
side
had his on
face
family; and going to my grandparents’ house
holding a tray of lobster. The other side had a picture of the
Long Island for the major holidays. Thanksgiving,
school. On the back, he writes a note in French, hands it to
Christmas, Fourth of July. I’d sit at the kids’ table
me, and says, When you see Jean-Jacques, tell him I sent
andI look
over at
adult
table
and realize
you.
said, That’s
it?the
He said,
I just
wanted
to knowhow
what
much
they
were
having.
laughing,
you
werefun
going
to do.
That’s
a goodThey
plan.were
He shook
my
telling
stories,
and“Idrinking.
I knew
veryme.”
hand.
I walked
outeating
thinking,
thought this
guy hated
early on, from that stage, that food connected
Apeople.
week after
graduation,
I’m poundingwhat
the pavement
in
I didn’t
fully understand
it meant—
Manhattan
handing
outtwo
resumes.
Nobody
would even see
it took years
to put
and two
together—but
me.
I’m
down
from
thirty
resumes
to
maybe
ten left,Iand
I knew it was something special. Something
I wanted
finally gettotobe
LaaCôte
The maître d’ says, Chef
partBasque.
of.
just finished eating. You want to talk to him now? I had no
choice—of course.
It wasn’t until my teens that I realized it could
actually be a career path. But long before then,
Jean-Jacques Rachou. He was the guy. One of the main
I distinctly
remember
sitting
at that
kids’and
table
French
chefs in
New York City
in the
seventies
eighties.
thinking,
are
a lot
of fun.
He
ruled theThose
roost. people
I’m sitting
inhaving
his office,
nervous
as heck,
That’s
really
awesome.
flubbing my words like Ralph Kramden—I worked the grill,
ba-ba-ba-ba. Then I remember: one of my instructors at the
Culinary
Institute
of America
is a friend
of your
yours. I reach
HT: Looking
back,
what lessons
from
into
my bag, grab
postcard,the
hand
it toyou
him.
He reads
upbringing
stillthe
influence
way
cook
and it,
laughs
out
loud,
then
looks
at
me
and
says,
When
can
you
lead today?
start? I said, Next Tuesday? He said, Next Tuesday. Be here
at two o’clock. To this day I don’t know what the postcard
RG: That same idea—that food brings people
said. It was in French. I don’t know if he kept it, threw it out,
together. And it’s not only family. It crosses all
or what. I was so beside myself when he said, You’re starting
boundaries: race, religion, background. Early in
Tuesday,
I just left. It started my career in Culinary.
my career, working in restaurants before culinary
saw
immediate
people
I school,
was out Ion
thethe
street
thirty-eightreaction
seconds later
withhad
a job.
a good
meal,
and
was addictive.
I think
a and
I to
take
the ferry
home,
myitfather
gets home from
work,
cooks
that
first La
time
someone
I lot
tell of
him
I got remember
a job. He says,
Where?
Côte
Basque. What
are
you
going
to
do
there?
I
don’t
know.
What’s
came back to the kitchen and said, Wow,your
thatsalary?
I was
don’tphenomenal.
know. What areIt’s
your
days off?you
I don’t
know.
a feeling
want
overWell,
what
youagain.
know?I Isometimes
have to be there
next Tuesday
anddo
over
compare
it to a at two
o’stage
clock. actor getting applause. There’s something
very immediate about cooking for someone and
HT: That led you to Jean-Georges. How did that connection
watching them respond to it—not just family,
happen?
but strangers too.
RG: While I was at La Côte Basque, another fellow I’d met
You started
in restaurants
before
inHT:
culinary
school came
on board, and
aboutculinary
a year later
he gave his two-week notice. He’d taken a job a few blocks
away. About a month later he calls me and says, You’ve got
to quit your job and come work for this guy.
