restaurantgirl

What was your first job in food?...
I started at the bottom of the brigade, as we say in French, which is an army name.  It's what we call the kitchen staff.  I worked my way up, from station to station, learning along the way.

Having grown up in France and worked in two Michelin starred restaurants, what compelled you to move to NYC?
Before New York, I worked in London for one year and then went back to France.  I was 25 years old and I wanted a challenge.  I was eager to experience something totally new in a foreign country.  A friend from London was working in New York at Park Bistro and told me there was a place for me.  So, I came to New York in September of 1991.

When did you first meet Daniel Boulud and what was it like collaborating with him for the opening of Daniel in 1993?
I met him because the owner of Park Bistro knew him.  He was leaving Le Cirque and I was finishing my first visa, but wanted to stay in America. I approached him and I guess I had good references because he took me on as a sous chef.  It was his first restaurant on his own.  He was already well respected as a chef but now he would become chef/owner.  The pressure level was very high.  We had to be flawless.

Where did you meet pastry chef François Payard and why did you leave to open the eponymous Payard?
When I was at Park Bistro, François was at Le Bernardin.  We met through a friend, and he said, "One day, if I open my restaurant, I will take Philippe as my chef because he is a hard worker."  We didn't know each other more than that.  Then at Daniel, he was the pastry chef when I was one of the sous chefs and we got to know each other over the years.  In 1997, Francois and Daniel Boulud opened Payard.  It was a new challenge for me, and a chance to do my own style of cooking.

You've been integrating a greenmarket approach into Provençal cooking before it was fashionable at Payard…what inspired your proclivity toward local, seasonal produce?
Provençal cooking is the best in the summer when the staple ingredients are at their prime, tomatoes, zucchinis, eggplant.  Growing up on a farm, this is how you eat.  Everything is seasonal and local.  Few people know the taste of fresh harvest potatoes.  I have this sense of the season from growing up on the farm.  It's natural for me.  We didn't expect to have strawberries in December.

What's your favorite dish on the menu right now?
It's always hard to choose favorites.  Today for lunch I had the halibut with ratatouille and tomato broth with lemon verbena and a purslane with fresh bean salad.  If something is on the menu it's because I like it.  Not because it's fashionable. 

What's your least favorite dish (and yes, you must pick one)?
The mesclun salad.  People always ask for it but it's not what I'd choose to eat.  Not that alone at least.

Have you created any new dishes exclusively to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Payard?
Actually, I've decided to bring back some of the classics from the last ten years.  It's like their new again.  The bouillabaisse and crispy pig's feet are two of my favorites to resurrect.

What is your junk food of choice?
I'm not really into junk food.  I refuse to go to fast food places.

Other than your own, what's your favorite restaurant in NYC?
That's difficult.  For Italian, San Domenico.  And, not just because it's my wife's restaurant, but because she's a great Italian chef.

What culinary trend do you most embrace?
Cooking seasonally and using local produce.  It seems to be called a trend now but for me it's the only way to cook.

What trend do you wish would die already?
There's only one El Bulli, and then too many people who copy it badly. Fusion is already dying, if not dead.

What's next on the horizon for you?  Any new ventures or restaurants in the works?  Spill the beans…
Sometimes it's good to stay put.  One day perhaps my wife and I will collaborate.

Address: 1032 Lexington Ave., nr. 74th St.
Phone: (212)717-5252

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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