Blogs - The Consummately Cool Chef: Saul Bolton

The Consummately Cool Chef: Saul Bolton

Location: Blogs Blogs Q&A
Posted by: laceyb	4/15/2007
(Photo courtsey of NY times) Recently, on a cold and rainy Sunday morning I ventured to Saul Restaurant in Boreum Hill and was greeted by the man himself with a steaming cup of coffee from his next-door Café. Decked out in a Rasta t-shirt and a wooly ski cap, he showed none of the pomp and circumstance that might be expected from a 2 time Michelin star chef. We immediately fell into a casual and comfortable conversation about Bouley, staff meal, and smoking pot. L: I’ve read that you grew up in Ohio, Georgia, and Massachusetts. How did your family life influence your passion for food? S: I grew up living with my mom and one of my sisters. She was working, and my sister and I had to do a lot of the cooking. We would get stoned and, The Joy of Cooking, Man! Getting stoned had a lot to do with it. Both my sister and mother are very slim, slight women, but you should have heard them at the table. It was almost obscene the noises they would make! They really got into it! One of my grandfathers was an amazing baker, I still have his recipes. My other grandfather used to grow strawberries for the Queen of England and made piecrusts and dandelion wine. My stepmother was a hard-core, classically trained brilliant woman. It was a high-light of everyone’s day to sit down for a huge meal with salads, side dishes, and desserts. L: What did you want to be before you started cooking? How did you become a chef? S: A baseball Player! I went to Reed College in Portland, Oregon, which is James Beard’s alma matter. I started working at this very civilized breakfast and lunch place, where I started to really love cooking. The earth is so rich in Oregon! I got accepted into culinary school, but realized that I loved what I was doing more than the recent grads I was working with, and probably better at it, so I decided to skip it. I was recommend to Hamersely by Todd English, and worked there with many talented people. Dan Silverman of Lever House, Cyril Renaud of Fleur De Sel, Kurt Guttenbrunner from Wallsee. After an unsuccessful time in France, Lisa (now is wife and business partner) and I moved to New York. I got lucky with Bouley. A cook had just been chased out by Domingo with a knife the night before, so I followed a cook down the back alley and got the job, and remained there for 2 years. L: How was it working for Chefs like David Bouley and Eric Ripert? S: Bouley was a freak. Nothing like a tyrant, but a mumbling weirdo. Very handsome though. The best actual cook I’ve ever worked with. He didn’t give a fuck if you beat each other up, or were doing a handstand with your eyes closed, as long as when it came out, it was beautiful. I kind of have that attitude. And there was always plenty of beer. Eric Ripert? He’s pretty. Very pretty, but he’s funny as hell! Le Bernadin is like a Navy ship. Corporate, but not in a bad way. Ripert is very good at delegating and hires good sous chefs. He treats people very well. I don’t know if he ever cooked though. He and Le Coze would babble in French, and come up and shake a pan once and a while. L: You’ve had Saul for the last 8 years, what kind of sacrifices have you had to make? S: People don’t realize the sacrifices! Try loving someone, try have a couple of babies, try having a couple of businesses. The blood, the fucking tears...There’s a lot of treading water. It’s a 24 hour thing. If you’re driven by money, this isn’t the business for you. It’s hard, hard, hard, but I really enjoy what I do, and that makes it bearable. L: What’s your philosophy and rules with staff? S: I want the staff to be themselves. I like to crank the music [in the kitchen], cook in a t-shirt, and be myself. There are certain things that need to be there: the food must be hot, correct wine glasses, etc; As long as you have the knowledge to back it up, talk how you want. We want things to be on a fairly high level, but we trust our staff to read people and be real with them. I’ve got great people working for me. For what its worth, we got top 50 for service in Zagat. L: What’s the staff meal usually like? S: I used to envision this ideal family meal, where we all gathered at a long table, chatted about our lives, with my kids happily buzzing around, not bothering anyone. I used to put lots of time and love into the staff meal, but it got to the point where I was getting my feelings hurt on a daily basis! Now, they get it next door at the Café. L: Okay, random question. What’s your favorite comfort food? S: Red wine, really good bread with really good butter. My stepmom’s fried chicken and biscuits. I love grilled cheese with lots of salt. Anything done really well is comforting to me. L: What’s your stance on sustainable farming and things like the Foie Gras Ban? S: As much as I’m sick of the whole pc, sustainable farming thing, I’m into it. You have to be, there’s bad stuff out there. Someone should write an article on how the foie gras ban and the trans fat ban is just the tip of the iceberg. If Bloomberg really wants to save New Yorkers, get rid of trans fat in supermarkets! Ban cigarettes wholesale! Foie Gras is cruel? What’s cruel? Cruel is chicken farming on a mass scale. Why do you think mass produced pigs don’t have tails? Because they’re packed together so tightly they EAT each other’s tails! If you’re going to feel bad for the ducks, feel bad for the chickens! Ducks get treated with kid gloves because the liver can be so easily damaged, even while alive. They get to eat lots of good food all the time. L: Good point. Okay, lastly, do you allow your employees a shift drink? S: We did for the past 6 years, but then we started seeing water glasses filled with white wine. If a guest brings in a bottle from their cellar and wants their waiter to taste it, that’s one thing. Besides, it’s not like this is the coolest place to hang out late night! www.saulrestaurant.com

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