What international high-end chefs eat; at home and at work
Although they have unlimited access to it, chefs really don’t spend all day eating lobster and drinking champagne—not even if they work in fancy-ass restaurants. No, of course you didn’t actually think that, but it’s still fun to see what chefs themselves eat. And how surprisingly casual and lazy it can sometimes be, haha!
A number of international chefs reveal how much they enjoy keeping things nice and easy at home or during the day, and which simple dishes they appreciate most. Although I have to say: I’d sign up immediately for even Fergus Henderson’s simplest pasta with tomato sauce!
How these high-end chefs have breakfast
Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in New York can cook up three stars’ worth of food with a little yogurt in the morning and two cookies with a decaf coffee. Tom Kerridge is a genial BBC TV chef with the only two-Michelin-star pub in Marlow, England: The Hand and Flowers (which is a different kettle of fish from an inflatable pub for the garden). He makes a little more effort in the morning with an omelet containing olives, chorizo, anchovies and cheese. And Jason Atherton of Pollen Street Social in London starts the day with a bacon sandwich with HP Sauce, yum! I’m immediately going to dig that bottle out of the depths of the kitchen cupboard again. Chelsea Conrad of Zahav in Pennsylvania (an award-winning Israeli restaurant) starts the day a little more healthily: coffee and yogurt with fruit and nuts.
Let the snacking begin
Because staff meal is usually served at the end of the afternoon, there often isn’t time for an elaborate lunch as well. So during the day, chefs in the kitchen may simply taste and nibble on whatever is going on the menu that evening. Zahav is hugely famous for its hummus, so Conrad snacks on that during the day. And although you may find it hard to imagine it—even in a professional kitchen, someone can think, ‘Jesus, there’s nothing to eat here either,’ and for those situations Conrad always carries a few granola bars. Say what? Chef Kelly McCown of The Kitchen in California says she eats a lot of fruit during the day, balancing it out with Doritos. And Emma Bengtsson of the Nordic restaurant Aquavit eats the pieces and scraps left over after preparing meat and vegetable dishes all day, with a spoonful of grains and a little of the sauces here and there…
At the table (at four o’clock)
That aforementioned staff meal can sometimes be a relaxed, convivial affair with everyone sitting down together, but often things are incredibly hectic just before the evening shift starts and everyone wolfs it down as quickly as possible. Often it consists of pieces of fish or meat that have been trimmed off so only the finest parts go to the guests. So if duck is on the menu, for example, the staff might eat nasi goreng with pieces of duck, or tacos with duck. For many chefs, it’s also an opportunity to put a pan of simple comfort food on the table instead of the complicated preparations that follow later in the evening. Shakshuka, for example, or chili con carne.
Finally heading home
Once the guests have gone home and a chef can finally relax, it’s perfectly normal to stop by the local late-night eateries, for example for Chinese dumplings or a bowl of steaming-hot phở. And in the Netherlands, of course, the national favorite guilty pleasure: a frikandel.
A day off
And when these chefs don’t have to cook in their own restaurants for once, what’s on the menu at home? Surprisingly often, chicken and pasta; in most cases, simple dishes they eat with their families. Tagliatelle with lemon and Parmesan, for example. Fergus Henderson of St. John in London says that he and his children mainly live on pasta with tomato sauce. Clare Smyth, who cooks for Gordon Ramsay in the same city, also makes spaghetti Bolognese at home as standard, or else roast chicken. Anne-Sophie Pic of Maison Pic in Valence also prefers to eat the latter at home on Sundays. ‘Slow-cooked, with tarragon. And, importantly, made by my mother.’
Also read:
- Eat seven Michelin stars in the Netherlands’ largest one-and-a-half-metre restaurant: this is where
- What (star) chefs find really irritating about guests
- The favorite kitchen tools of (star) chefs
