When I Pair Food And Wine, I

I Have An Immigrant Story. Most People Come Here For Economic Reasons, Or Religious Reasons, Or Racial Reasons, Or Gender Reasons, Or One Of Those Things. I Had A Good Job In Paris, But America Was, And Still Is, The Golden Fleece. And I've Done Very Well!

When I Left To Go Into Apprenticeship In 1949, It Was Only Four Years After The War, And People Don't Realize, We Still Had Tickets For Butter, Meat And So Forth In France Until 1947. It's Not Like The End Of The War, Everything Was Plentiful - It Wasn't.

Most People Who Came Here Came For Economic Reasons Or Sometimes For Religious Or Political Reasons. I Didn't Have Any Of This. I Came Here, I Liked It, I Stayed. So I'm A Pure American - Even More Than People Who Are Born Here - Because I Did It By Choice As An Adult.

You Have No Choice As A Professional Chef: You Have To Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat Until It Becomes Part Of Yourself. I Certainly Don't Cook The Same Way I Did 40 Years Ago, But The Technique Remains. And That's What The Student Needs To Learn: The Technique.

All The Great Chefs I Know - Thomas Keller, Jean-georges Vongerichten - They Are Technicians First.