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The reach of a restaurant: Thomas Keller at TEDxEast | TEDx Talks | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: The reach of a restaurant: Thomas Keller at TEDxEast
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Summary
Core Theme
A restaurant's true success lies not in fame or fortune, but in the creation of lasting memories for guests, achieved through a deeply ingrained culture of hospitality, meticulous execution, and a dedicated team focused on continuous improvement.
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[Music]
good morning or good afternoon this is
uh certainly not my normal habitat
usually there would be some stoves here
and some refrigerators and countertops
here cutting boards and knives and it's
pretty violent environment with all the
fires and the knives and young people
running around you know on
Red Bull these days opposed to
Coffee uh but here I am uh standing
before you it's hard to believe that a
little more than a generation and a half
ago chefs were considered domestic help
by the US Department of Labor thanks to
a lot of
recognition the Advent of food magazines
food channels and of course through
support of people like you we now have a bonafide
bonafide
recognized profession and I'm standing
here in front of hundreds of people to
talk about a restaurant it's quite
unique when you come to think about it
um I can't tell you how honored I am to
be here U it's some it's one of those
things that someone asked you 20 years
ago where do you think you'll be now and
I thought well I'd have my own
restaurant and maybe a really good chef
but standing on a stage at Ted
X I would never think i' would be there
who knew um but but I want to talk to
you about what a restaurant is all about
this connectivity which is this theme
that's running through the conference today
today
and what a restaurant is and how that
connectivity relates to who we are and
how we achieve what we
achieve like to introduce you to The
French Laundry in ya California this is
what you see when you come to our
restaurant why because this is about you
this is about you as an individual your
experience at that restaurant but I see
a lot of different things most of them
are hundreds of individuals that are
dedicated and committed to
you only you you by yourself people ask
me a lot of times about success and I've
thought about it for years and I realize
that success is not about Fame
it's certainly not a about fort Fortune recognition
recognition
Awards it's about memories it's about
the memories that we collect throughout
our lives and I'm sure each one of you
have wonderful memories about things
that you've done in your life and a lot
of that was about success that defined
success for me and certainly one of
those memories or one of the biggest
compliments I can receive is when a
guest comes to our
restaurant has dinner and then comes
back to the kitchen where I meet them in
the courtyard and they say Chef this
reminds me of and they go into this
wonderful tale about an experience they
had I don't know in the south of France
in Paris in Italy in Spain or even in
America a great experience they had in
another restaurant and I can only hope
that that individual goes on and has
another great experience and says this
reminds me of the French Laundry because
there in lies the true meaning of
success but what are we we're in the
hospitality industry I hate to call it
industry I haven't thought of a better
word for it but that's what we do we we
think about Hospitality as something
that comes from inside something that's
innate something that comes from
someplace in the heart something Soulful
you can teach Hospitality but it doesn't
have the same kind of impact as it does
when it comes from some place that's
meaningful some compelling
reason I'm a nurturer at heart I was
speaking this one of our for or one of
our fellow um uh presenters last night
and and I brought that up I said you
know what I do is nurture people I found
out long time ago what makes me happy is
making you happy it's one of the most
gratifying times of my life but let's
talk about cooking for a for a moment
because that's what restaurants and
chefs are all about right and cooking is
a very simple
equation it's about ingredients and
execution I don't care if it's the
French Laundry per Danielle Cafe bulud
Bon ad hoc the diner down the street
it's all defined by the ingredients that
they receive and the way they execute of
course our ingredients come from a wide
source of IND indviduals from all across
the country K&J orchards in California
bringing us stone fruit throughout the
summer extraordinary couple who
dedicated to peach trees plum trees P
Simmons of course Su young scalan uh a
young biochemist Dairy scientist who
decided to make
cheese but with love of music she names
the cheese after
ingred benjas a very interesting woman a road
road
scholar a woman who is uh Russian
literature expert who lives in
Stonington Maine and sells lobsters to
some of the best chefs in the country I
remember my first experience with ingred
was here in New York City over 20 years
ago when she began selling to a chef at
leard den and of course her name showed
up an article and I called her I said
would you sell me lobsters and she
wasn't interested in selling me lobsters
or any fish because she did not know who
I was she didn't know what my standards
were took me two years to get my first
hbit from her and since then we've been
connected wonderful lady
meaningful supports a a vast array of
fishermen in Maine Snake River Farms in
Idaho one of the premier
cattle ranches in our country bringing
some of the highest quality beef to the
tables that we've seen in a long time
Connie green a wonderful woman who lives
in Napa forges mushrooms not only
herself but has this whole underground
network of people who go out in the
middle of the night scouring the forest
for all these wild mushrooms that they
bring us a very special woman here Diane
stclair who lives in oral Vermont and
named her Farm the animal farm I wonder
why extraordinary woman read my cookbook
about 9 years ago and thought well I'll
send him some of my butter I've got four
cows I make butter I get up every
morning at 5:00 a.m. to milk those cows
I milk them again in the afternoon so I
can make some butter I'll send it to
Keller and see what he thinks about it I
received it FedEx showed up little
baggie with three little balls of butter
I tasted it I said wow this is
extraordinary I said Diane who are you
why did you send me this butter and how
much do you
make she said well I thought from
reading your book I thought you'd be the
perfect Chef to Showcase my butter I
make 15 pounds a week I said I'll buy it
start sending 15 lbs a week she had
three cows at the time Daisy lightning
scooter they produced our butter we
opened per se I said Diane we have a
dilemma we're going to need to get more
cows she did the only time that she has
off in the entire year seven days a week
twice a day milking her cows the only
time that she gets to to get away from
that is during the summer when they're
cing three years ago I get a beautiful
frame picture of a young cow named
Keller I said okay now I have a cow
named after me and a
child the noie orchard in Hawaii John
mood we have something in common John
and I went to the same High School in
South Florida several years apart he's a
little bit older than I am he became an
airline pilot in Hawaii and decided that
he was going to
buy a peach Palm Orchard 25 acres
sustainable and starts selling hearts of
palm he harvests the suckers doesn't
doesn't doesn't kill the main tree he
harvests the suckers and he's able to
supply us for the past 10 years with
fresh hearts of palm extraordinary John
Sterling caviar the Sacramento Delta
where sturgeon have thrived for
centuries Sterling caviar now produces a
sustainable product that we've been
working with them over the past 10 years
to continuously raise the standards to
replace the wild caviar that we used in
the past became so rare
Don and Sally Schmidt the original
owners of The French Laundry in Pho New
York at the Apple
Farm every week Don drives down four or
five cases of apples for us at The
French Laundry that relationship continues
continues
today Jacobs and Farms here's an
interesting couple Peter and Gwen you'd
never know it but they're dentists from
San Francisco who bought an acre Orchard
in Yael
California and Supply us with some of
the most amazing fruit that's available
nine varieties of figs three varieties
of peaches nectarines plums it's just
extraordinary he's gone as far as
certifying the snails that come out of
his farm as organic we Harvest our
snails organic snails from Jacobson's
farm and of
course a man that I'm so proud of Tucker
Taylor our own Gardener at The French
Laundry we have a 3 Acre piece of land
across the street where he har where he
cultivates and
harvest a wide variety of vegetables not
only for the French Laundry but also
Buon ad hoc and we even send some to New
York once in a while so they can see
what a truly amazing radish really is of
course El leian Fields Farm uh Keith
Martin a banker who decided to become a
lammer uh don't understand that I still
don't understand that he's tried to
explain it to me a dozens of times why
would a banker want to become a lammer
he did he's established a protocol for
raising his animals in a holistic way
that's now patented it's extraordinary
that he has now eight farmers in Western
Pennsylvania Eastern Ohio who have
adopted this protocol and now raised
Lambs not only for us but for some of
the other chefs around the country these
are just an example of a group of
extraordinary individuals who are
dedicated and committed to bringing
those products and ingredients to our
restaurant for
you and of course it's not just about
food ingredients if we think about
ingredients we have so many other things
the wine list I don't know how many
thousands of bottles we have on our list
representing dozens of countries
hundreds of producers and you think
about the generations
of individuals that are part of that
Network as well and then of course the
environment that we have at our
restaurant whether it's the architecture
the interior design the Linens the China
the glassware the silver it goes on and
on and then people you don't even see
and may not even realize that are there
they're working every day for
you reservationist administrative
staff Human Resources public relations
accountants all making sure that our
restaurant runs in a way that's going to
be efficient effective so that we in the
restaurant we Cooks we servers we sales
can give you the experience that you
expect the second part of the equation
execution what is execution execution is
about skills skill levels right what
defines a great chef what defines a
great server what defines a great some
is his skill level and what we do at the
restaurant three things that are
critical hiring making sure that we
identify the right individuals to come
to our restaurant I don't interview
everybody but I try to get involved in
the culinary side of it because I am a
cook and when I ask a young culinarian
why why do you want to work here why do
you want to cook oh Chef man I can't
tell you how passionate I am about what
I do I'm going okay that's interesting
passionate I'm passionate as well I'm
passionate about the first asparagus I
see the first baby spring lamb that
comes in the back door yes I'm really
passionate about that but after a week
or two what happens my passion kind of
subsides it goes down a little bit
because I've already seen it I've been
experiencing for a couple weeks kind of
O over it a little bit but I still have
an amazing asparagus that's still coming
in the back door I still have amazing
spring lamb what is it that's important to
to
me in recognizing that individual that
he should be working at our restaurant
or what is it in me that continues to
drive me it's
desire desire desire trumps passion
every time it's nice to be passionate
and passion is going to help move that
desire higher but when that passion is
not there what do you need
that desire that strong sense of Desire
Desire
training another important element in
execution we've hired the person we've
made him realize that passion is not the
most important thing that he better find
that something inside that desire that's
going to continue to to drive him for
the next 20 25 30 35 years in this
industry we want to train them he in the
door we want to give them the training
that they need in order to be able to
execute the expectations that we have for
for
you seminars purveyors come in suppliers
come in Keith Martin comes in Armando
Mani comes in they talk about what they
do how they do it what they produce what
their points are what their vision is
seminars wine seminars not only the Napa
Valley but around the world we send our
staff out our teams that go out to to do
to do these seminars an
amazing vast library of culinary books
wine books service manuals we write our
we write our own we write our own
service manuals update them on a on a
yearly basis making sure that the team
has update
information of course the third
part mentorship that man on the left Roland
Roland
hennan taught me why I
cook he was my mentor he's my mentor
today mentorship is such an important
part of success we continue to Mentor
our staff we assign mentors we ask you
who you want your mentor to be the
process that we Embrace
wholeheartedly another part is the tools
we have to have the right tools people
always talk to me what what should I buy
you know what kind of tools should I buy
buy the best go out and buy the best
because the best will last the best hat
makes a difference whether it's the
stove the sauté Pan the knife The
Cutting Board the Str trainer the spoon
I don't care what it is get the best get
what you're comfortable with it'll last
forever leadership
leadership leadership becoming a leader
giving the
team those individuals the confidence
and courage they need to execute
Jonathan Beno here I might some of you
may know Jonathan Beno he began at The
French Laundry in
1995 actually sor in
1996 later became chef of per today he
has his own restaurant Jonathan came to
me as a young Chef dep party a chef the
party is an individual who works on a
specific station in this case Jonathan
was the fish cook he came to me one day
and Jonathan does this he said Chef he
does that when he's making a point he
points at you with all four fingers and
his thumb underneath Chef I mean that
you know you know he's
serious I'm I'm not going to have a
cutting board on my station tonight and
I I'm I'm I'm working I'm you know I'm
busy you know it's back in the old days
when when everybody had a lot to do and
and not that we don't today but you
know I was more immersed in it and I'm
thinking okay whatever you know that's
that's interesting you're not going to
have a cutting board on your station yes
I'm going to be so prepared I'm going to
be so prepared I have so much confidence
in my ability to have my Misan plast
done that I'm not going to need a
cutting board now every chef depar and
every restaurant has a cutting board on
their station some of them need a
cutting board the butcher needs a
cutting board to carve the steak
Jonathan was doing fish everything's in
place everything's ready to go all he
has to do is cook and serve it I said
okay that's fine don't have a cutting
board at the end of the service Flawless
it's become the new
standard for that station because
Jonathan Beno had the confidence and
courage to step outside of what was the
norm in any restaurant and say I'm going
to do better I'm going to create a new
standard we all know that it's not about
any one
individual it's about a team we look we
give credit to those individuals whether
it's the quarterback the CEO or the chef
for that matter for everything that is
accomplished I love to be part of a team
a team to me is a family it's a way of
achieving a higher goal than ever
whatever we thought about but it's also
a lot of fun it's our soccer team of
course I'm the
coach we also love to share success
celebrate them with each other can you
imagine celebrating a success on your
own when we receive an award it's a it's
about that celebration let's get the
champagne out let's Pat each other on
the back let's give everybody a hug
let's celebrate that I look to the San
Francisco Giants now yeah here's a team
that nobody thought thought could do
what they did but it was through
determination and teamwork that they
were able to achieve something that
nobody thought they were ever capable of
doing teamwork it's all about that
teamwork there's this idea out there
that Thomas Keller is this you know
allseeing person and and I think that's
pretty prevalent with most chefs you
know we go to the market in the morning
buy pick out all the produce run over to
the fish market get all the fish go to
the butcher get all the butcher get all
the meat come back we we fabricate it
all we cook it all we don't eat we don't
sleep we barely breathe we we're there
that's it we do everything but that's
not that's not the case that's not the
case it's about the group of individuals
who are focused and determined to bring
you a great experience we talk about
that that culture that culture certainly
did begin with me the philosophy of what
we do and one of the cornerstones of our
philosophy is just do a little better
than yesterday come to work with that
idea and goal in your mind just a little
better I don't care if your shoes a
little shinier you've learned how to tie
your apron a little tighter your knife
is a little sharper your brunoise is a
little more exact just a little better
than yesterday that's all you have to do
and as the days go on the weeks go on
the months go on the years goes on you
end up
someone like
me one of the most meaningful decisions
I've ever made at the French ony 16
years ago was to change the menu every
day every day something that was almost
unheard of and certainly something that
was in practice at the extent that we do
we get together at the end of the night
all the chefs the chef dep pares the Sue
chefs around the table with our lists
of the ingredients that we've ordered
Tucker's Farmers list or the garden list
all these different pieces of
information we have and we start to
collabora work on the menu for the next
day we have a rule where there's no
repetition so during the evening someone
say it's corn season someone say someone
on the meat station say I got corn which
means that at the end of the night when
we start to do the menu he's already
died the corn because no one else can
use corn the result of that is
extraordinary that menu is outlined the
night before the Sue Chef comes in the
morning at 5:30 he looks at the menu he
starts to verify the quality of the
ingredients that are coming into the
restaurant he's able to modify the menu
extraordinary green tape just a little
story about green
tape it's something that we use
everywhere taping down the pass taping
down our menus we tear we tore the green
tape for 10 years we tore the green tape
for 10 years chefs like Grant aets Eric
zebold Jonathan Beno tore the green tape
when we were getting ready to open per
se a young group of people were coming
to New York City to inoculate this new
group I gave them a pep talk I said I
want you to go there and show set an
example make an impact a young expeditor
at at the time Zion cruel who taped down
the past at the French aundry every
night had this in his mind I'm not sure
what he was thinking February 16th
2004 he's taping down the passive per se
what does he do pulls out a pair of
scissors and cuts the
tape jaws drop it becomes a standard for our
our
restaurant becomes a standard for our
restaurant hiring training mentoring
confidence courage rapid
rate of evolution it's
all for you we want to make sure that
your experience is one that's compelling
and memorable I've been doing this for
35 years years it's something that I
focused my life
on this sat on my desk every day as I
was trying to purchase the French
Laundry having a dream is hard living it
is harder my biggest asset at the time
was my ignorance had I known what I was
have to go through I never would have
done it don't be afraid don't be afraid
to fail be afraid to try we have
mentored hundreds of individuals that
have come through our restaurant over
the past 16 years our Legacy is through
them and what they've done in their own
restaurants people like Eric zeel Grant
AET Jonathan Beno Cory Lee that
continues this
connection with who who who we are as
culinarians as restaurant tours as
nurturers and we do it all for you thank you
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