Tom Colicchio and Jacques Torres Doing What They Love

Colicchio, Torres on Left. Barber, Soltner on Right

Courtesy of Grub Street

Discipline.

This word sum up the Doing What You Love discussion at the 92nd Street Y, moderated by French Culinary Institute’s founder & CEO Dorothy Hamilton, who was promoting her new book with the same moniker.

Chefs Dan Barber, Tom Colicchio, Jacques Torres, and Andre Soltner gathered with Hamilton to talk about the good and bad of chefdom while photos from their much younger days were projected on the big screen behind them.

Hailing from the old school of culinary training, Torres and Soltner bonded over their rigid French apprenticeships where being five minutes late meant the Chef would literally toss you out with the trash or hit you with a readily available kitchen tool. Both men agreed that the sometimes harsh training taught them discipline that has served them well in such a physically demanding profession.

Dan Barber, of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, admitted he has doubts about his chosen profession and has developed some ambivalence to the commitment required in the kitchen. He explained that his kitchen staff arrive at 9:00 am and work until 1:00 am five days a week. With no menu, the food served at Blue Hill at Stone Barns comes from a list of available ingredients and what patrons at each table are interested in. This requires a lot of creativity, flexibility and devotion that takes a lot out of him. Barber seemed exhausted just explaining this and I couldn’t help being taken aback at his candor.

Tom Colicchio spoke of his five years of on-the-job training in NY/NJ kitchens and the influence that Jacques Pepin’s book, La Technique, had on him. Colicchio emphasized how hard he worked to take over a kitchen at 27 and that anyone seeking a career in the kitchen should do so because they are passionate about food and making people happy with food -- not as a means to become a celebrity.

During the discussion, the four culinary titans admitted that the measure of a successful chef has changed. In the 70s & 80s, running one popular restaurant was an achievement. Today, success is defined by making it with four or five different restaurants. With Colicchio as a prime example, entrepreneurial diversification also seems key to being a celebrity chef with a hand in cookbooks, media, and restaurants.

A few more highlights include --

When asked about the impact of long kitchen hours on their personal relationships, all four men sat in an awkward silence that spoke volumes.

Jacques Torres told the audience how he turned lackluster sales of giant lollipops around by adding the words “Spank Me” to them. He now plans to sell 1,200 of them by this Valentines day.

Colicchio said that the disorderly depiction of kitchens in Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential doesn’t apply to all kitchens and that he personally would never have worked in that environment.

Colicchio also said that he is currently hiring and that the type of chef he is looking for is one who is not only talented, but can also adapt to stress, chaos and no sleep.