eG Q&A with Paul Liebrandt

[veda]

hey dude

what format do you think will communicate best your vision

cheers

wg

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The most recent posts have been very interesting, etc., but WOW - very philosophical!

So I'll keep my post simple and reiterate Akwa's question, above, and add something to it. Do you agree with those that say that New York is not nearly as receptive than, say, Chicago or San Sebastian to chefs like you, who explore the boundaries of taste and texture, take sound and smell into consideration when creating a dish, etc (the so-called hypermodernists)? Even though you do say that the food you were serving at Gilt "was not strange or weird in any way", do you fear that, when you open your own place, newyorkers will not give you the enthusiastic welcome that Grant Achatz or Homaro Cantu, for example, got in Chicago?

←

i'm very interested to hear paul's reply to this post, because i think a lot of new yorkers have a skewed vision of chicago's food scene. having just spent the last year there, i might be able to shed some light on this subject as well. also, having tasted paul's food for the first time not long ago, i definitely don't see how new yorkers can be so jaded when it comes to paul liebrandts cuisine, but not when it comes to will goldfarb's? i think that new yorker's are extremely receptive to great and modern food, however you have to consider what was the typical diner like at gilt? wealthy upper east siders. of course there not going to like paul's vantage, they want food like that of aureole. so i just think that paul got a bad rap there, because he was cooking for the wrong clientel. i mean come on, it's the new york palace hotel, and the food was at new york palace hotel prices. as soon as paul gets his own venture, and does it his way, in his style, in a not-so-upper-east-side-location, he's going to fly. and he and i have discussed his plans, and i think he's going to try to open a place that's more approachable, slightly more casual, but still serious, and a bit more cost conscious for diners. i for one am very excited to see what transpires.

j.

←

Jordan you are a prince among men-I have always said this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what you say is true, there are many factors that play into a restaurant situation-not just location , price , the way people percive the restaurant, the way the food,sevice,wine,ambiance,deco,image is marketed to the public

[docsconz]

Jordan you are a prince among men-I have always said this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what you say is true, there are many factors that play into a restaurant situation-not just location , price , the way people percive the restaurant, the way the food,sevice,wine,ambiance,deco,image is marketed to the public

←

Paul, you touched on this in our discussion. Would you care to elaborate on this at all in relation not just to Gilt, but your other experiences as well?

Edited October 27, 2006 by docsconz (log)

[veda]

hey dude

what format do you think will communicate best your vision

cheers

wg

←

The most recent posts have been very interesting, etc., but WOW - very philosophical!

So I'll keep my post simple and reiterate Akwa's question, above, and add something to it. Do you agree with those that say that New York is not nearly as receptive than, say, Chicago or San Sebastian to chefs like you, who explore the boundaries of taste and texture, take sound and smell into consideration when creating a dish, etc (the so-called hypermodernists)? Even though you do say that the food you were serving at Gilt "was not strange or weird in any way", do you fear that, when you open your own place, newyorkers will not give you the enthusiastic welcome that Grant Achatz or Homaro Cantu, for example, got in Chicago?

←

i'm very interested to hear paul's reply to this post, because i think a lot of new yorkers have a skewed vision of chicago's food scene. having just spent the last year there, i might be able to shed some light on this subject as well. also, having tasted paul's food for the first time not long ago, i definitely don't see how new yorkers can be so jaded when it comes to paul liebrandts cuisine, but not when it comes to will goldfarb's? i think that new yorker's are extremely receptive to great and modern food, however you have to consider what was the typical diner like at gilt? wealthy upper east siders. of course there not going to like paul's vantage, they want food like that of aureole. so i just think that paul got a bad rap there, because he was cooking for the wrong clientel. i mean come on, it's the new york palace hotel, and the food was at new york palace hotel prices. as soon as paul gets his own venture, and does it his way, in his style, in a not-so-upper-east-side-location, he's going to fly. and he and i have discussed his plans, and i think he's going to try to open a place that's more approachable, slightly more casual, but still serious, and a bit more cost conscious for diners. i for one am very excited to see what transpires.

j.

←

I am interested in this question as well. While I think your analysis as to why Gilt might not have been as successful as it prhaps should have been rings trtue and as a result Paul took the fall, but I don't think that he actually got a bad rap as the vast majority of the reports and reviews that I have read were tremendously positive about his work. I have evn heard rumors to the effect that Gilt would have received two Michelin stars, but that rating was removed at the last minute when Paul was removed.

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maybe-price,style,image?

[veda]

Chef,  can you describe what the vibe was in the kitchen of Pierre Gagnaire? How was the mind set, organization, etc.

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a lot of work! but truly breathtaking cuisine-I found myself as a cook there

[NaFairge]

chef,

at the ICC you talked about the dematerialization of food, as opposed to the deconstruction of food. many cooks like to have a point of reference from historical cooking for their modern dishes.

how do you 'find' what goes on the plate? where do your ideas come from?

[foodite]

dematerialization of food, as opposed to the deconstruction of food

←

thats a term I haven't yet heard in this context... can you elaborate on what you mean by dematerialization? is this the term you use to define breaking down food into its most basic sensual elements?

[docsconz]

We have had some excellent questions so far, but I will take this opportunity to remind everyone that in addition to questions for Paul, thoughtful opinions on the issues raised are also welcome. For example, Jordan, any insights that you may have on New York vs. Chicago vs San Sebastian or Barcelona and their respective receptiveness to creative cuisines, are more than welcome.

[veda]

Jordan you are a prince among men-I have always said this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what you say is true, there are many factors that play into a restaurant situation-not just location , price , the way people percive the restaurant, the way the food,sevice,wine,ambiance,deco,image is marketed to the public

←

Paul, you touched on this in our discussion. Would you care to elaborate on this at all in relation not just to Gilt, but your other experiences as well?

←

when you open any buisness - the way you client percives you is of the upmost importance, in restaurant terms we call this the package-not just the food but the whole dining experience,but to really understand this - and I think most chefs and restauranters will agree, you have to really understand the building blocks of a restaurant- not just the financial side,working front or back of house in a fine establishment gives you a great insite, into understanding the restaurant buisness and in turn what makes a restaurant successful both commercially and financially

[veda]

chef,

at the ICC you talked about the dematerialization of food, as opposed to the deconstruction of food. many cooks like to have a point of reference from historical cooking for their modern dishes.

how do you 'find' what goes on the plate? where do your ideas come from?

←

good morning sir snack!!

deconstrution is the idea of taking a dish and breaking it down to the different elements-wether it be temp or texture or colour-there is a point of reference in the dish,the flavour profile is recognized.

dematerialization is the idea of taking componants that have no point of reference,this meaning the combinations of ingredients may at first not be recognized,but form might be

[docsconz]

Jordan you are a prince among men-I have always said this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what you say is true, there are many factors that play into a restaurant situation-not just location , price , the way people percive the restaurant, the way the food,sevice,wine,ambiance,deco,image is marketed to the public

←

Paul, you touched on this in our discussion. Would you care to elaborate on this at all in relation not just to Gilt, but your other experiences as well?

←

when you open any buisness - the way you client percives you is of the upmost importance, in restaurant terms we call this the package-not just the food but the whole dining experience,but to really understand this - and I think most chefs and restauranters will agree, you have to really understand the building blocks of a restaurant- not just the financial side,working front or back of house in a fine establishment gives you a great insite, into understanding the restaurant buisness and in turn what makes a restaurant successful both commercially and financially

←

What lessons have you learned from your past experiences not just with the restaurants that you have been directly involved in, but also your experience as a consultant and how will they affect what you do and how you approach your next venture? In other words what specific things were wrongly done and how would you do them differently? In addition what specific things were done well and are worth keeping?

[Sneakeater]

however you have to consider what was the typical diner like at gilt?  wealthy upper east siders.  of course there not going to like paul's vantage, they want food like that of aureole.  so i just think that paul got a bad rap there, because he was cooking for the wrong clientel.  i mean come on, it's the new york palace hotel, and the food was at new york palace hotel prices.  as soon as paul gets his own venture, and does it his way, in his style, in a not-so-upper-east-side-location, he's going to fly.  and he and i have discussed his plans, and i think he's going to try to open a place that's more approachable, slightly more casual, but still serious, and a bit more cost conscious for diners.  i for one am very excited to see what transpires.

j.

←

When I said something like this, Fat Guy (at least I think it was Fat Guy) responded by asking, "Then what about Papillon?" So I guess now I'll add the question, "Then what about Papillon?"

[ASM NY]

Thanks for joining us Chef. I found your comments regarding the importance of planning very interesting. I remember you had mentioned in some article that th PR/launch for Gilt had not been planned properly.

Now that you are working on your new project, and hopefully have more time to plan properly, how do you envision your new place compared to Gilt, both in terms of food, service and ambience?

(basically elaborate a little bit on how do you plan on positioning your new restaurant so it will be comercially/financially succesful)

[jkahn]

We have had some excellent questions so far, but I will take this opportunity to remind everyone that in addition to questions for Paul, thoughtful opinions on the issues raised are also welcome. For example, Jordan, any insights that you may have on New York vs. Chicago vs San Sebastian or Barcelona and their respective receptiveness to creative cuisines, are more than welcome.

←

personally, i think that chicago is not what everyone thinks it is in regards to food. grant is doing extremely well for many reasons, a big one being that he's marketed very well. articles written about him offer a sort of a provocative/mystical approach, leaving a lot to the imagination. naturally, people are drawn to it. homaru is the same, however i don't think moto is as successful of a restaurant as many new yorkers think. quite simply, new york is the most culturally diverse city in the country, and certainly one of the most in the world... chicago? mmm... not so much. i think that we have an advantage in new york, as we have sort of a "it happened here first" perspective. so for those that think that alinea, or moto, or el bulli wouldn't work in new york, i strongly disagree. however with like anything else, all elements have to be factored in ie: clientel, price point, location, etc. as far as spain is concerned, spaniards are extremely nationalistic. and since the big modern "boom," food movement in spain, i think that they are encouraging all of there chefs. we are decidedly more cynical in this country.. myself included. you know, like when a chef in charleston starts using sodium alginate, you raise your brow to it and think, "why?" but in spain, they think, "what? another modern restaurant? hurray? anything that keeps people saying that we're superior to france now in gastronomy" (i was sort of joking a little bit). i mean, ferran adria is like emeril lagasse over there. and how many americans know who he is? not many, really.

[veda]

chef,

at the ICC you talked about the dematerialization of food, as opposed to the deconstruction of food. many cooks like to have a point of reference from historical cooking for their modern dishes.

how do you 'find' what goes on the plate? where do your ideas come from?

←

good morning sir snack!!

deconstrution is the idea of taking a dish and breaking it down to the different elements-wether it be temp or texture or colour-there is a point of reference in the dish,the flavour profile is recognized.

dematerialization is the idea of taking componants that have no point of reference,this meaning the combinations of ingredients may at first not be recognized,but form might be

←

my approche to food has always been to lookat the flavour profile of a dish and then adjust it accorroding to the ingredients , techniques at hand,I was trained in a very classic french michelin style,but I always felt that ingredients have no bounderies this is a common train of thought these days but I grew up in London when it really was not,there is a whole world of ingredients techniques, ideas-I like to use this philosophy when I cook

[jkahn]

however you have to consider what was the typical diner like at gilt?  wealthy upper east siders.  of course there not going to like paul's vantage, they want food like that of aureole.  so i just think that paul got a bad rap there, because he was cooking for the wrong clientel.  i mean come on, it's the new york palace hotel, and the food was at new york palace hotel prices.  as soon as paul gets his own venture, and does it his way, in his style, in a not-so-upper-east-side-location, he's going to fly.  and he and i have discussed his plans, and i think he's going to try to open a place that's more approachable, slightly more casual, but still serious, and a bit more cost conscious for diners.  i for one am very excited to see what transpires.

j.

←

When I said something like this, Fat Guy (at least I think it was Fat Guy) responded by asking, "Then what about Papillon?" So I guess now I'll add the question, "Then what about Papillon?"

←

papillon as far as i know, was an existing restaurant, and paul took it over. i think from the beginning, the restaurant was not designed for the ambitious food that paul was exploring. naturally the whole scene was not very cohesive, and i think that that greatly contributed to it's downfall.

[docsconz]

chef,

at the ICC you talked about the dematerialization of food, as opposed to the deconstruction of food. many cooks like to have a point of reference from historical cooking for their modern dishes.

how do you 'find' what goes on the plate? where do your ideas come from?

←

good morning sir snack!!

deconstrution is the idea of taking a dish and breaking it down to the different elements-wether it be temp or texture or colour-there is a point of reference in the dish,the flavour profile is recognized.

dematerialization is the idea of taking componants that have no point of reference,this meaning the combinations of ingredients may at first not be recognized,but form might be

←

my approche to food has always been to lookat the flavour profile of a dish and then adjust it accorroding to the ingredients , techniques at hand,I was trained in a very classic french michelin style,but I always felt that ingredients have no bounderies this is a common train of thought these days but I grew up in London when it really was not,there is a whole world of ingredients techniques, ideas-I like to use this philosophy when I cook

←

Can you illustrate this concept of "dematerialization" with an example of any particular culinary creation of yours or from another chef?

[veda]

Jordan you are a prince among men-I have always said this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what you say is true, there are many factors that play into a restaurant situation-not just location , price , the way people percive the restaurant, the way the food,sevice,wine,ambiance,deco,image is marketed to the public

←

Paul, you touched on this in our discussion. Would you care to elaborate on this at all in relation not just to Gilt, but your other experiences as well?

←

when you open any buisness - the way you client percives you is of the upmost importance, in restaurant terms we call this the package-not just the food but the whole dining experience,but to really understand this - and I think most chefs and restauranters will agree, you have to really understand the building blocks of a restaurant- not just the financial side,working front or back of house in a fine establishment gives you a great insite, into understanding the restaurant buisness and in turn what makes a restaurant successful both commercially and financially

←

What lessons have you learned from your past experiences not just with the restaurants that you have been directly involved in, but also your experience as a consultant and how will they affect what you do and how you approach your next venture? In other words what specific things were wrongly done and how would you do them differently? In addition what specific things were done well and are worth keeping?

←

having one singular vision is very important-the team must all be moving in one direction-restaurants are very hard to operate well at a high level,it takes real devotion and drive,when things do not go according to plan you adjust-but the vision should remain the same,this is a very common thing you see with restaurants-summertime comes buisness slows-knee jerk reation-change the concept,rather than adapt and stay true to the restaurants vision

[veda]

however you have to consider what was the typical diner like at gilt?  wealthy upper east siders.  of course there not going to like paul's vantage, they want food like that of aureole.  so i just think that paul got a bad rap there, because he was cooking for the wrong clientel.  i mean come on, it's the new york palace hotel, and the food was at new york palace hotel prices.  as soon as paul gets his own venture, and does it his way, in his style, in a not-so-upper-east-side-location, he's going to fly.  and he and i have discussed his plans, and i think he's going to try to open a place that's more approachable, slightly more casual, but still serious, and a bit more cost conscious for diners.  i for one am very excited to see what transpires.

j.

←

When I said something like this, Fat Guy (at least I think it was Fat Guy) responded by asking, "Then what about Papillon?" So I guess now I'll add the question, "Then what about Papillon?"

←

papillon as far as i know, was an existing restaurant, and paul took it over. i think from the beginning, the restaurant was not designed for the ambitious food that paul was exploring. naturally the whole scene was not very cohesive, and i think that that greatly contributed to it's downfall.

←

papillon was a great little restaurant,the restaurant didnot close, I moved on to persue other oppertunities,the owners decided to change the concept after I left thats it.

[jkahn]

however you have to consider what was the typical diner like at gilt?  wealthy upper east siders.  of course there not going to like paul's vantage, they want food like that of aureole.  so i just think that paul got a bad rap there, because he was cooking for the wrong clientel.  i mean come on, it's the new york palace hotel, and the food was at new york palace hotel prices.  as soon as paul gets his own venture, and does it his way, in his style, in a not-so-upper-east-side-location, he's going to fly.  and he and i have discussed his plans, and i think he's going to try to open a place that's more approachable, slightly more casual, but still serious, and a bit more cost conscious for diners.  i for one am very excited to see what transpires.

j.

←

When I said something like this, Fat Guy (at least I think it was Fat Guy) responded by asking, "Then what about Papillon?" So I guess now I'll add the question, "Then what about Papillon?"

←

papillon as far as i know, was an existing restaurant, and paul took it over. i think from the beginning, the restaurant was not designed for the ambitious food that paul was exploring. naturally the whole scene was not very cohesive, and i think that that greatly contributed to it's downfall.

←

papillon was a great little restaurant,the restaurant didnot close, I moved on to persue other oppertunities,the owners decided to change the concept after I left thats it.

←

thanks for clearing that up paul. see, it's all silly rumors in this city. you always need to go to the source. sorry about the misinfo.

[coquus]

How do you rectify your approach to cuisine to the "grows together, goes together" people? And, unrelatedly, have you and will you try to limit yourself in anyway with the raw material you use, seasonal, organic, etc., and if so, to what degree?

[pedro]

Hi, chef. I had the pleasure of dining at Gilt back in mid January. I remember that I thought that it was a restaurant which would very likely succeed --there go my prediction abilities--: contemporary cooking but well measured risks in the main courses, a wink here and there to more avant-garde proposals in the first part of the meal, a controllable size of the dining room, good service. Yes, the wine list was way too expensive, but that's not a surprise --unfortunately-- in NYC. How was the restaurant doing in terms of patrons? I saw a good number of seats taken on a rainy Tuesday night. Or was it a problem with the ownership?

[Lateralus]

Can you explaine more in detail about the location you're searching for in NYC. You metion below 23rd street. With your to previous expeiences..Atlas...Gilt they were located in midtown...is your dicision going to based on price point concept being that it will not be so fine dining, and not in an area on NYC that is know for being fine dining(midtown).

manybe more easily said...will the concept reflect the location pre se?

sorry about spelling it early here Chicago!!

[Sneakeater]

I understand you might not want to speak to this, veda, but the elephant in the room is of course the New York Times review and the effect it might have had on Gilt's business. One might also question whether Frank Bruni's (and Bill Grimes's before him) apparent lack of sympathy for avant-garde or hypermodern or whatever-you-want-to-call-it cuisine might be one reason for such cuisine's arugable lack of traction in New York so far.

Edited October 27, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[jkahn]

thank you all fo a lively and informative discuission. i must depart. thanks doc for notifying me of this. good luck paul, keep in touch. let me know if you need anything.

jordan.

[veda]

chef,

at the ICC you talked about the dematerialization of food, as opposed to the deconstruction of food. many cooks like to have a point of reference from historical cooking for their modern dishes.

how do you 'find' what goes on the plate? where do your ideas come from?

←

good morning sir snack!!

deconstrution is the idea of taking a dish and breaking it down to the different elements-wether it be temp or texture or colour-there is a point of reference in the dish,the flavour profile is recognized.

dematerialization is the idea of taking componants that have no point of reference,this meaning the combinations of ingredients may at first not be recognized,but form might be

←

my approche to food has always been to lookat the flavour profile of a dish and then adjust it accorroding to the ingredients , techniques at hand,I was trained in a very classic french michelin style,but I always felt that ingredients have no bounderies this is a common train of thought these days but I grew up in London when it really was not,there is a whole world of ingredients techniques, ideas-I like to use this philosophy when I cook

←

Can you illustrate this concept of "dematerialization" with an example of any particular culinary creation of yours or from another chef?

←

one of the dishes we did at gilt was a oxtail gelee(natural gelatine)which capped a cold salad of seaweed and cep mushroom, snow pea puree anchored the seaweed to the plate and a cappaticcio of raw scallop covered the oxtail

these are not traditonal flavour combinations-but it tasted sublime!