Thomas Keller: What the Last Meal Taught Him

[KristiB50]

Interesting article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/dining/28keller.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

THOMAS KELLER cooked his father’s last meal.

He had only recently come to know Ed Keller, a towering former Marine drill sergeant who left his family when Thomas Keller, the youngest of five boys, was just 5 years old.

When they finally reunited decades later, father and son liked each other so much that in 2006 Ed Keller moved from Pennsylvania into a house next door to the French Laundry, the restaurant in Yountville, Calif., where his son had made his name as a chef.

He quickly became a fixture around town, a real character who would show up at 8 a.m. every day to tell stories to his son’s staff and customers at the nearby Bouchon Bakery. In the afternoons, he would drink wine in the French Laundry garden. Catch him in the right mood and he would even help you get into the reservation book.

For a few great years, Mr. Keller finally knew what it meant to have a dad around.

[Anna N]

Thank you for sharing. It certainly brings Thomas into the realm of ordinary mortals where I am certain he must have always belonged. It's just that his celebrity obscured other sides of him.

[nakji]

I also noticed from the accompanying photo that he has a whiteboard in his kitchen. I also have a whiteboard in my kitchen, which makes the count exactly one of kitchen traits that I share with Thomas Keller.

[emilyr]

I read this today at work and cried a little in my cubicle. I love the way his focus on cooking has become more family-oriented - it makes him less intimidating to a cook such as myself. I look forward to the family dinner cookbook.

[maggiethecat]

Family, whether parents or children, makes us adults and changes how we see the world. I'm glad Thomas has seen the light, although I'm sad that it was the tragic travails of his father that brought enlightenment.

[prasantrin]

I also noticed from the accompanying photo that he has a whiteboard in his kitchen. I also have a whiteboard in my kitchen, which makes the count exactly one of kitchen traits that I share with Thomas Keller.

I can't even remember the last meal I shared with my father. Good food was always important in my family, and it saddens me that I can't remember it. I remember one of the last things he cooked was a meatloaf (I didn't eat any--he and my mother ate it all). My mother said it was the best meatloaf she had ever had, and he had to tell her his secret in case he died. He replied, "Don't worry. There's another one in the freezer." He died a couple of weeks later.

But yes, having a whiteboard in common with Thomas Keller is important.