St. Thomas ( Keller) According to Bourdain

I ate at the French Laundry, once. I would love to go more, a pilgrimage of sorts, but this economy is putting a damper on even my most humble dining out plans. And that will have to be okay for now. Yet, I do have the blessing of my memory and my recent encounter with Chef Thomas Keller or St. Thomas, as Anthony Bourdian so aptly named him. I am a huge sucker for celebrity chefs, or most chefs that is. That is why I do this. I really understand what it takes to work in this business and I can only be in awe of those that do it and become famous or create something sublime, or both. (This will be a recurring theme, people.) But back to T.K.

My goal for the Pebble Beach trek, was to see, meet or possibly, just possibly assist Chef Keller. Only Bourdain has the words to properly describe him, the level of his food and his vision. I will spare you my attempts and encourage you to read "A Cooks Tour". Suffice it to say, he has changed the game forever with his gorgeous, thoughtful food with an unprecedented reverence for the best, most incredible ingredients. He is playful and evocative in his menus and concepts, with out ever being trite. The meal we ate was beyond my wildest food visions. Read about Chef Keller, it is wondrous.

He was on deck first at Pebble Beach on Friday and came really early to set up. In true TK style, he had everything ready to go and brought tons of cookware, All Clad Stainless of course. He does not leave anything to chance. He had four or five guys with him, fairly young, some mid 20's, some mid 30's. My favorite was a fairly young gun named Mark Bodinet. In any group of celebs and their entourgaes, I have noticed that there is usually one or two people who will really notice who is helping, working and making it all flow. The gratiude guys. Love those guys. That was Mark and Thomas Keller himself.


After his set up, I asked Chef for a photo which he SO graciously and very willingly agreed to. He even walked over, stepped down and since he is super tall and I am super short, he sat down and so kindly set his hand ever so gently on my knee and leaned in. You can see the benevolent look on his face, it tells his whole story. He posed with my culinary companion, Elizabeth as well. He is just so cool.

As I mentioned before, Chef Todd English was a last minute canceling no - show so Thomas had an even bigger crowd. Finally everyone was seated and chef began to introduce his dishes and to tell a wonderful story.
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