Doug Psaltis

[tan319]

I HAVE read the book, and it was pretty boring. Read Michael Ruhlman instead 

Julie the Librarian

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I have read Ruhlman, I reread his TFL chapters in 'The Soul of a Chef' about 3 times a year and I'll be reading various chapters of 'The Seasoning of a Chef' around the same.

Ditto K.C. and A.C.T.

[Bux]

. . . Nothing was written with the intention of cutting someone down. . . .

If this is the case, I have to wonder why then a pseudonym (Peter) was used for the chef/owner of the restaurant in which Psaltis worked under Alex Urena. I have to wonder also why Psaltis says in his book that he was "not certain how he [Peter] knew Alex." If Psaltis were as integral a part of the start up of that restaurant as he says he was in the book, I do not see how he could not know (it was also widely reported in the press) that the chef/owner and Alex were both Bouley alumni.

Psaltis continues to ignore the chef/owner's kitchen experience: "Alex and I were the only ones at the table with considerable restaurant experience." Before starting his own catering company, the chef/owner not only worked at Bouley (before Psaltis worked at the later Bouley Bakery) but he also worked in the kitchens of restaurants in Paris, Southern France, and California (as is evident from looking at his bio on the restaurant's website). Perhaps the chef/owner is exceedingly humble, but it would seem Psaltis could not have been completely in the dark about his employer's past restaurant experience. I do not see how he could believe a chef with more experience at that level of cuisine would leave him, an employee, "cooking and running the kitchen," especially with Alex on board as well.

Not only does the book lead one to believe that Psaltis was supposedly calling the shots with regards to the food, but it also inflates his role in choosing the décor of the restaurant. Psaltis writes: "The decor, silverware, plates and . . . had never been a concern of mine before, but now they were, and I ended up being involved in all of them." While a chef/owner might indeed include a sous chef in such matters to help build the spirit of teamwork, Psaltis overemphasizes his role by neglecting to mention that the complete design was the work of an architect who was a family member of the chef/owner.

I also have to say that I find a later statement in the book that "no one was there to learn" offensive and for more than the racist comment I've referred to in a thread on Latino workers. There was definitely something to learn and I saw the bright young faces of cooks bent on a culinary career. If they didn't arrive until Psaltis left, that shouldn't be held as a mark against a brand new restaurant. Alex himself rose from being at the low end of the totem pole at River Café to someone who will soon be opening his eponymous restaurant, Urena. Just because someone's first language is Spanish or anything that's not English does not mean that they aren't interested in learning.

For me, these factual omissions--which it has been established in this thread are not unique to this chapter--put the entire work into question. They seem to elevate Psaltis's position without painting a clear picture of what was going on at the time. I think the record needs to be set straight.

[robert brown]

This kind of stuff and the reactions to it are germane to the genre. I have less than 100 pages to go, after which I'll put my two cents back in play again.

[Bombdog]

Does it matter?  Really?  Perhaps M. Psaltis would rather talk about what is actually in his book rather than why he quit or was fired?  If it's not in the book, and he hasn't brought it up, perhaps it is not meant to be for public consumption. 

Took the words right out of my mouth...I mean, who cares about why he left TFL? I found the excerpts entertaining and have ordered the book. I don't really care whether it's fiction or non...I enjoyed the writing and want to read more.

[robert brown]

In terms of careers, American chefs rarely have great stories to tell. Doug Psaltis, however, is an exception, and with the opening of Country just days away, his unusual career adds an unusual element of human interest into the new restaurant’s mix. In “The Seasoning of a Chef: my journey from diner to Ducasse and beyond”, Psaltis lays out the story of how a life in restaurant kitchens formed him as a chef, all 20 years of it from when he was ten and working weekends in his Greek grandfather’s diner in Queens to his brief stay at the French Laundry. One wishes that the he was a better storyteller because the story is a good one, but unfortunately the telling of it is makes for something of a slog-through. Yet the reader can’t help but being in awe at the death-defying stamina and dedication Psaltis has put forth in making himself the best chef he can be. The commuting from Manhattan to Queens to grab a few hours sleep and the off-days spent working the line in restaurants he felt he could learn something from are but two examples. Nothing, however, rises in terms of great experience than the good chunk of time Psaltis worked for Alain Ducasse, starting out as a commis in his luxury New York restaurant to ultimately becoming head chef of Mix, the short-lived restaurant disaster, the blame for which Psaltis lays at the feet of Ducasse’s money-grubbing investors.

Between Mix and Country Psaltis spent a few months in Napa Valley, ostensibly as chef de cuisine of the French Laundry. It was a post that didn’t work out for reasons Psaltis explains as the paucity of competent chefs due in part to the opening of Per Se in New York; the less-than-impeccable state of the kitchen; simply being a city boy bored in the country; and an approach to cuisine that Psaltis felt was meant for the heavy tourist trade of Napa, could easily be explained and whose sauces lacked flavor.

Because of the rhetorical self-portrait that Psaltis creates---that of a cook who substituted intense practical experience for the Culinary Institute of America or some other trade school, working in a kitchen run by the most famous chef of his day, and handling the best ingredients available--- you begin to wonder if the admittedly outspoken Psaltis will ever find a restaurant kitchen to his liking. This is the story behind the story of the new restaurant named Country.

[Wendy DeBord]

you begin to wonder if the admittedly outspoken Psaltis will ever find a restaurant kitchen to his liking.

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I'm certainly not Mr. Psaltis but I think your question lacks the depth of understanding of what it's like to be a chef. The same question can be asked of most chefs.

[Jonathan Day]

It took a trip from London to Cambridge (Massachusetts), but I finally got a copy of this book and read it. I didn't think it was a great or even a particularly good piece of writing. The narrative plods along, with odd lurches from present to past tense and back again. It's full of clumsy sentences.

There are a few themes that hold the story together, though Psaltis never identifies them as such, leaving the reader to slog through detail that never advances the story.

One is the difference between "chef" and "cook". Psaltis takes a high view of what it means to be a chef:

Learning steps and repeating them is important to cooking in a restaurant, but that's not all there is to cooking. At Bouley Bakery, there was no way to create a Bouley sauce the way it was supposed to be except by following every one of the many steps.  To be a solid cook in that kitchen you had to do exactly what you were supposed to do.  But becoming a chef in your own right, which was the underlying goal for most of us, means something else: it means understanding why you are doing each step.  Not necessarily the science behind it, but the reasoning.  The balances between sweet and sour and bitter and acidic and fatty—truly understanding flavor.

Hence Psaltis's view that there can only be one true chef in each restaurant, his chafing under Dan Barber (whom he calls Peter in the chapter called "Cooking by the Book") and Thomas Keller; and his appreciation of the hierarchy of the Ducasse empire.

Uniquely in Thomas [Keller's] restaurants everyone is called chef, even the front of the house staff. I refused to follow this practice, as I found it objectionable, almost offensive.  In every other kitchen, chef was a term of respect.  I had worked very hard to earn the title of chef in the Ducasse world; in Keller's universe I was called chef but it meant nothing.

The second theme is closely related; it is the notion of a "system"—the Wayne Nish system at March, the Ducasse system, the Keller system—in military parlance, this is called "doctrine". Military doctrine extends from the broad and philosophical, e.g.

To understand the Marine Corps' philosophy of warfighting, we first need an appreciation for the nature of war itself—its moral, mental, and physical characteristics and demands. A common view of war among Marines is a necessary base for the development of a cohesive doctrine because our approach to the conduct of war derives from our understanding of the nature of war.

to the tactical

Put simply, surfaces are hard spots—enemy strengths—and gaps are soft spots—enemy weaknesses. We avoid enemy strength and focus our efforts against enemy weakness with the object of penetrating the enemy system since pitting strength against weakness reduces casualties and is more likely to yield decisive results. Whenever possible, we exploit existing gaps. Failing that, we create gaps. Gaps may in fact be physical gaps in the enemy's dispositions, but they may also be any weakness in time, space, or capability: a moment in time when the enemy is overexposed and vulnerable, a seam in an air defense umbrella, an infantry unit caught unprepared in open terrain, or a boundary between two units. Similarly, a surface may be an actual strongpoint, or it may be any enemy strength: a moment when the enemy has just replenished and consolidated a position or a technological superiority of a particular weapons system or capability. An appreciation for surfaces and gaps requires a certain amount of judgment. What is a surface in one case may be a gap in another. For example, a forest which is a surface to an armored unit because it restricts vehicle movement can be a gap to an infantry unit which can infiltrate through it.

to the very specific

Vehicle interval (distance or gap) is of prime importance in minimizing attack. The enemy cannot bring effective fire to bear on a large number of vehicles separated by wide intervals. By establishing an interval of 50 to 100 meters, mine damage can be limited and the effectiveness of air attacks minimized. Vehicles should close to 50 meters as obstacles are encountered, but generally should get no closer. Unless the move is by infiltration, more than a 100- meter interval detracts from the concept of a mutually supporting defense. When a halt occurs, all vehicles stop at their enroute interval.

(All of these examples come from the US Marine Corps Doctrine division, primarily from a publication called Warfighting).

Collectively, doctrine provides soldiers with a set of guidelines or heuristics that they can follow, in the heat of battle, when detailed instructions aren't forthcoming. "System", for Psaltis, plays a similar role. A lot of what Psaltis was doing as he moved through March, Ducasse, French Laundry, etc., was acquiring and building his own system. He spoke with some disdain of Dan Barber, "cooking by the book" and using other chefs' recipes, even though Psaltis, early in his career, cooked dishes from The New Basics, a domestic cookbook.

Psaltis's book has attracted a fair bit of attention on eGullet for its criticism of iconic chefs. I struggle to understand why this is so. Psaltis had his differences with several chefs, but he manages to say respectful things about most of them, Barber and Keller included. Contrast this with Jeremiah Tower's California Dish, which teems with angry accusations, particularly about Alice Waters, an iconic foodie figure if ever there was one. According to Tower, Waters fraudulently claimed credit for the vision of Chez Panisse; for the authorship of the first and best known Chez Panisse cookbook (entirely written, says Tower, by Linda Guenzel, whom Waters later described as "the typist"); and for being a chef, when, according to Tower, she couldn't cook beyond grilling a lamb chop or mixing a salad.

Tower doesn't even miss a chance to slam Waters in the index: under "Waters, Alice" we find

• confrontations with Jeremiah Tower
  
• cooking style of ["she hadn't cooked in eighteen years"]
  
• credit taken by
  

By comparison, Psaltis's account is tame. Most of his differences with chefs or restaurateurs are about their "system" and their unwillingness to allow him to emerge as a chef himself, to create his own dishes, to develop his own culinary aesthetic, to implement the Psaltis system.

What I found ultimately disappointing about this book is that we never learn much about Psaltis's dishes, about his culinary sensibilities, or about what the Psaltis system entails, other than keeping the kitchen tidy as the cooks go about their work. Like Psaltis, Tower provides all sorts of irrelevant detail: James Beard's penis size (small), Rudolf Nureyev's taste for pornography, Alice Waters's hats; as well as tedious narratives of champagne drunk, cigars smoked, cocaine snorted and nitrous oxide inhaled. But Tower does share his views about food, wine and menus, and even a few recipes. It would have been nice to have had some of the same from Psaltis.

[Fat Guy]

The book especially drags in the long middle. The early material about the family diner is, to me, irresistibly charming, and the later material about Ducasse, Mix and French Laundry I found riveting. (I hope there will be some discussion of Mix, because Psaltis tells a very different story from the one the press was buying at the time). The middle stretch is probably not of great interest to the general readership -- only the real die-hards (which probably includes many of the people reading this eG Forums discussion) want to know that much about March. That material is valuable mostly to young cooks starting out on a career path. For that group, the book is invaluable and there isn't anything quite like it out there.

I get the sense that Seasoning is part one of two, with the second volume to come if and when Psaltis opens a successful place owned and operated by him. I imagine, Jonathan, that some of your issues -- such as the desire to know more about the Psaltis system -- aren't ripe yet. In that sense, Seasoning may be a premature book -- William Grimes (in his new role as book reviewer, not food writer) recently bemoaned the trend towards autobiographies by everyman (and took a gratuitous swipe at Ruhlman's House book) in his piece "We All Have a Life. Must We All Write About It?" Here I think Psaltis certainly meets the requirement of having something interesting to say that makes it worth writing a book, but the book might have been more satisfying with another couple of years of seasoning, so to speak. It will be interesting to re-read it in light of a second volume.

[robert brown]

Doug Psaltis isn't just one of many chefs.

[Mimi Sheraton]

Psaltis may have something interesting to say, but he obviously chose not to say it so in this book. It is a badly written bore by a churl who has to have a co-author to sound churlish on his behalf. Let's see if his self-lauded talents are apparent at the forthcoming Country. He certainly has invited tough criticism with his book.

Wonder whose fault it will be if this one fails...

[robert brown]

These days it’s getting more difficult to be single-handedly responsible for an ambitious restaurant to fail. I’m sure if you asked Jeffrey Chodorow why Mix failed, he wouldn’t blame the same people Doug Psaltis did. If Country bites the dust, you would probably get the same blame game dynamics. The point I was trying to make in my hurriedly-written post above is that the restaurant situation has changed so much that a chef who the likes of Alain Ducasse clearly thinks the world of can do no better than getting a chef’s position at a prix-fixe, family-style restaurant, some cuts above the average as it may be. Put Psaltis in a luxury restaurant that has a 25-30 man brigade kitchen; using the best available produce; formal, well-covered service and offering a modicum of choice on the menu, then success or failure might more likely fall on his shoulders. I’ll have a better idea of what Psaltis is dealing with when I go after the restaurant opens to the public, but based on its description, Psaltis seems for the moment to be rather hamstrung.

[culinary bear]

... but the book might have been more satisfying with another couple of years of seasoning, so to speak. It will be interesting to re-read it in light of a second volume.

I'm getting overtones of the decision to release 'Kill Bill' as two volumes, surely unmotivated by the fact that the box office return would be considerably swelled.

[Mikeb19]

While it is great that Doug took some time out of his busy day to post, he still hasn't responded to two basic questions that would end this once and for all:

1. Why exactly did he leave "one of the best restaurants in the country?"

2. Did he quit or was he fired?

Then readers can decide on their own how to best evaluate Doug's comments about TFL.

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Honestly, it is NO ONES business why a cook leaves a restaurant (except him and the chef/owner). I've worked in very high end restaurants, and quit jobs many culinary grads can only wish they've worked...

Sometimes not everything is as it seems. Often there is a huge price to be paid for cooking the best food (lack of sleep, stress, the pay sucks, very long hours, etc...) Sometimes you also need change just for the sake of change. Many cooks have artistic personalities, get bored very quickly, and cannot cook the same food for months on end (no matter how good it is). And finally, many cooks are crazy. There is no explanation for things they do.

[BeetsandBlueCheese]

I've looked over many of the criticisms, and there may be merrit to some, nothing really struck me while I was reading it. I was too engaged by the story, I felt too propelled by it's energy and momentum to notice any real faults. As a young, impressionable cook(the closest thing to this book's target audience, if it has one), I was simply inspired. Not by the prose, or the narative structure, but by it's, and consequently his, passion, which was conveyed brilliantly by this book. It also served as warning, a way of saying "this is what it takes to create this level of food".

[dvs]

While it is great that Doug took some time out of his busy day to post, he still hasn't responded to two basic questions that would end this once and for all:

1. Why exactly did he leave "one of the best restaurants in the country?"

2. Did he quit or was he fired?

Then readers can decide on their own how to best evaluate Doug's comments about TFL.

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Honestly, it is NO ONES business why a cook leaves a restaurant (except him and the chef/owner). I've worked in very high end restaurants, and quit jobs many culinary grads can only wish they've worked...

Sometimes not everything is as it seems. Often there is a huge price to be paid for cooking the best food (lack of sleep, stress, the pay sucks, very long hours, etc...) Sometimes you also need change just for the sake of change. Many cooks have artistic personalities, get bored very quickly, and cannot cook the same food for months on end (no matter how good it is). And finally, many cooks are crazy. There is no explanation for things they do.

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unless, of course, you write a book about it...

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I'm still shaking my head over this book. What a damned whiner, and what lousy (and largely untrue) things to say about Dan Barber, and Thomas Keller as well.

It struck me that this book sets up the blame for any failure he may have in his own business: If writers don't like his food, or other chefs don't flock there, or cooks leave, it will be because he stood up against "The Establishment."

Yeah, I wish Doug Psaltis a whole kitchen full of lots of little Doug Psaltis's (Psaltii?).

[bourdain]

More "innuendo" as Alain Ducasse and Jeffrey Chodorow join the cast of (to quote Mr. Brown) "detractors, partisans, boot-lickers and hired guns" repudiating the substance of the Psaltis book in today's New York Magazine.

But hey, what do they know, right?

[slkinsey]

Here is the bit from NY Metro. And here is a brief quote:

Alain Ducasse’s spokesperson says that many of the book’s most colorful anecdotes never occurred: Ducasse never threw a chair during a meeting at the Essex House, and he was not unrecognized and locked out of Mix by staff.

[Fat Guy]

Nice work injecting yourself into the news cycle on this one, Tony. The New York Magazine "Intelligencier" piece, by Jennifer Leuzzi, even carries your photo -- not one of Psaltis.

Ducasse is not quoted. Rather, an unnamed spokesperson denies that Ducasse "threw a chair during a meeting at the Essex House," and that he was "unrecognized and locked out of Mix by staff." Okay.

Chodorow, making his bid for the world's biggest hypocrite award, is quoted as saying "I find the lack of respect shown to him [Ducasse] and his organization, let alone to ours, unfortunate, but not that surprising, knowing Mr. Psaltis." Doctor, heal thyself!

Of course, in 2003, before Seasoning of a Chef, the organization was singing a much more upbeat tune in the New York Times:

Mr. Ducasse, whose partner in Mix is the restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, said he chose Mr. Psaltis because "he's the best cook in my kitchen, he's ambitious and loyal, and I like the idea that he's a young New Yorker."

"A lot of these young Americans spend three months, three weeks, three days in a top kitchen somewhere and think they've learned something," Mr. Ducasse said. "Doug has been with me for three years."

In other news, the San Jose Mercury News got sort of a comment from Thomas Keller on all this:

Along the way, Psaltis shows the personal sacrifices made. And he pulls no punches. When he goes to the French Laundry in Yountville for a potential job as chef de cuisine, he is critical of the standards there. Chef-owner Thomas Keller said recently that he had not read the book yet, but he acknowledges that Psaltis was there at a very difficult time last year -- when Keller was simultaneously reopening both the French Laundry and his New York restaurant, Per Se.

Also there's a piece in Newsday worth looking at, though no mention of controversy.

[sizzleteeth]

Here is the bit from NY Metro.  And here is a brief quote:

Alain Ducasse’s spokesperson says that many of the book’s most colorful anecdotes never occurred: Ducasse never threw a chair during a meeting at the Essex House, and he was not unrecognized and locked out of Mix by staff.

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And we all know rich, famous highly influental people with interests and empires to protect - always tell the truth.

[bourdain]

Apparently Ducasse allows his spokespeople complete free reign to go off reservation and say whatever they want. Sounds just like the freewheeling fun-loving devil-may-care "who cares what they say I said" kinda guy we know and love..

As far as "injecting (myself) into the news cycle.." Exactly how did I do that? I was called for comment--and gave one. The New York Magazine photo editor--it might be surprising to learn--is outside my sphere of influence.

Must be difficult on Planet Fat Guy right now. Between Ducasse and a Hard Place.

[Fat Guy]

I was speaking with admiration -- I wish I could do that. And I'm more impressed now that I know you didn't even have to try.

[Dave the Cook]

Here is the bit from NY Metro.  And here is a brief quote:

Alain Ducasse’s spokesperson says that many of the book’s most colorful anecdotes never occurred: Ducasse never threw a chair during a meeting at the Essex House, and he was not unrecognized and locked out of Mix by staff.

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And we all know rich, famous highly influental people with interests and empires to protect - always tell the truth.

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Apparently  Ducasse allows his spokespeople complete free reign to go off reservation and say whatever they want.  Sounds just like the freewheeling fun-loving devil-may-care "who cares what they say I said" kinda guy we know and love..

Truth or not, it's not Ducasse talking -- the quote doesn't even say, "Alain Ducasse said through a spokesperson . . ." Since Ducasse himself is not on the record, he can pick this up later -- and confirm it, deny it, whatever he chooses, if he chooses. The man has a cell phone, and could have provided his own words, even if it was "no comment."

Must be difficult on Planet Fat Guy right now. Between Ducasse and a Hard Place.

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It's true that Steven was a champion of ADNY when practically no one else was. Of course, he also coined the phrase "Ducasse's bay of pigs" to describe what happened at Mix.

[robert brown]

Tony, I defined the limits. My way of describing those who run interference for Thomas Keller is not open-ended so that people can slot in whomever they want for whatever purpose they want.

[tan319]

Jesus, this just gets worse and worse.

A little fucking chef writes his little fucking book about some other chefs, some were good, some were bad, some had some problems when they branded out, according to him, and everybody get's their ass in an uproar like Psaltis called their mom some old slag!

Oh, that's right, he mistakenly slapped a waiter instead of knocking them out, ala Ramsey or just burning their hand, ala Keller, with a soup bowl, and forgot to write about it.

The Ducasse thing HAS to be a lie because HE would NEVER get mad enough to throw a chair, RIGHT?

This thread and all of you backpedalers have really blown it.

Last time I looked free expression wasn't defined as public lynching, stoning, etc., physically or by computer keyboard.

Edited to add: What is also REALLY confusing is wayyyyyyyyy back there one would have had the feeling Bourdain had actually read the book, when he was saying "oh, it's just a memoir, etc., etc., take it for what it is" but now it's all a schocking diss on all of the chefs of the world and was the book ever read by Bourdain or any of these chef authors before the shit hit the fan?