Sumontana

Let me tell you a quick story. Two years ago I worked as a front maitreD for a high end restaurant. It had a front room and a back room. It seemed thed owner wanted the regulars, vips, the ones of more affluence to sit in the front room. He usually would first go through the reservations , see who he knows and tell me where he wanted them to sit , then tell me I can figure out the rest of the room. One day I sat in the front room a sweet older asian couple that had VIP on their reservation,but then my owner pulled me aside and gave me a long list of who he wants sitting in the front and in the back, and I was shocked that racism had a lot to do with it. Heck, another restaurant I worked at recently the front maitreD at another popular restaurant used to come to me in a panic quite often worried that he might have to sit some elderly couple in the PX area. My point is, don't count out the owner as being part of this, and that racism , ageism even is still rampant in these trendy restaurants.

I worked in that kitchen for weeks before the opening. They actually put off opening for seven weeks , while I watched Jean-Georges, Gray Kunz, Stanley Wong tinker with the recipes. On week two of training, they scrapped most of the original recipes and started by scratch, they even had Greg, the Chef de Cuisine from J-G brought over for some of his ideas. Mohan and even Piche , the pastry chef should be mentioned for their influences. They put off the opening for several more weeks ,costing hundreds of thousands dollars to get it right, no doubt. It was very impressive to see so many great chefs working in one kitchen daily , having such passion and care for what they were creating. And if you truly read any of their resumes. You'll see that definately, all three lived in South East Asia for quite an extended period of time. And their love for that culture and the street food there, was what they wanted to bring to New York. As of last week they have been seen in that kitchen every night. It's a long beautiful open kitchen ,exposed to the dining room, so you can see Mr. Kunz working the front line for yourself. If you ask to sit at the communal, one of them might even stop by to ask you how your enjoying your meal. I just left the restaurant, but it was an honorable experience.