in my life and it’s something that reso- nates with me. Something for dessert in chocolate or citrus, or both together, is always wonderful, and a really great garden salad is good way to start. •••
I’ve read that you really like Nutter Butters. Is that true? Oh yeah. We have many cookies at Bouchon Bakery that represent our childhood memories and Nutter Butters is one of those. ••• You have said, “Simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve.” Exactly. •••
Can you explain that? Roasted chicken for example is very simple. What you have to be able to do is perform specifi c steps that are very simple but critical to executing a great roasted chicken. Think about the process of drying the chicken; most people don’t understand that. Letting the chicken sit uncovered in your refrigerator for a couple of days so the moisture evaporates from the skin is a very simple step but one that is critical and results in a very crispy skin. Tempering the chicken is another example; once you’ve been able to air dry the chicken, leaving it to sit out for two-three hours so it becomes room temperature. And then just seasoning it correctly; salt is our primary seasoning component, you may want to add pepper as well. Also getting it into the oven at the proper temperature and making sure you’re not interfering with that too much. Lots of times cooks want to interfere with the cooking process because we get anxious and feel we should be doing something. But if you think about a roasted chicken, it’s just chicken with something as simple as salt seasoning at the proper temperatures. Or if you think about sushi,
you basically have three com- ponents—rice, wasabi and fi sh. If any one of those components
WINTER 2012 /
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is not extraordinary, then you don’t have an extraordinary experience. Simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve because each ingredient becomes a focal point. If any one of those is not executed correctly or is not of high quality then you have a diminished experience with the dish. That is what I mean by simplicity. •••
What is your next venture? I don’t know; it hasn’t appeared yet. I’m not
one who’s always trying to fi nd some- thing. Certainly things come to us and we explore opportunities, but I’m not out saying, “Where are we going to go next?” We’re trying to make sure we operate the existing restaurants at a very high level. •••
What is one word to describe yourself? You’d have to ask somebody else that (laughs). It’s hard to come up with one word.
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