1
- 3 months ago
Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Chef Alexia Duchêne, co-owner and chef at Le Chêne in New York City. Nestled in the West Village, Le Chêne is making New Yorkers fall in love with Parisian cuisine all over again.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:01French cuisine, for a lot of people, they think of something that's rich and over-complicated.
00:08But I see something that is more celebratory, homey and decadent.
00:14French food can also be playful.
00:17Being a chef-owner is something that feels very special.
00:20I'm 29 and I always dreamt of having a restaurant at the early stage of my career.
00:25Being in New York, I've never felt so in touch with French food because I miss it.
00:29So that's what I try to do every day, is just teaching and showing people and giving them the love for French food.
00:42My name is Alexis Duchesne, I'm the chef and owner of Restaurant Le Chesne.
00:45It's 10am, we just got back from the market and we're ready to prep. Come on in.
00:50So this is the dining room. It's roughly 42 seats and we do two to three seatings depending on how busy it gets.
01:01It's time for me to get changed and get it ready with an apron and a t-shirt.
01:04This is the upstairs service kitchen. This is where we do service but we also do a lot of heavy prep.
01:10During the day, we're ready to start putting things away and cooking.
01:14This is Matisse, my sous chef, and Salman, junior sous.
01:17We're just checking all the produce.
01:19I like going to the market with Matisse, it's kind of our ritual.
01:22It kind of helps us be connected to what we're cooking and be a bit more in touch with the season.
01:28Also, what I like about going to the market is making sure we have the right size.
01:32For example, for potatoes, we really are looking for something that is small and when you order,
01:37you never know what you're going to get and it gives us a bit more precision in what we choose.
01:41So today, specials, Matisse, what are we thinking? Turbo?
01:44So we have the Turbo.
01:46From France, it's been dried like five, six days?
01:49Yes.
01:50Usually, specials are something that we don't get in huge quantities and also something that's quite extraordinary.
01:55I think specials are specials for an occasion. It's like, you know, it's like birthday cake.
01:58You don't want to eat birthday cake every day and that's the same with a special.
02:01We're going to break down the Turbo that's dry-aged. We're going to also do the tuna.
02:07So it's 10.45 and now we're just going to focus on protein.
02:10The Turbo, we get flown in from France once a week. It comes from Brittany.
02:13It's really rare to find wild-caught French Turbo. It just doesn't have the same taste.
02:18The fact that the waters are so intense, it makes a really nice collagen in the fish.
02:24It's just, for me, my all-time favorite fish.
02:27We usually like to dry it for at least three to four days, ideally five, just because the skin gets really nice and dry.
02:34And when we put it on the grill, it really crisps up.
02:37Breaking down Turbo is quite easy. Basically, you have two fillets on each side.
02:42You have to really stay really close to the bones, but other than that, there's no bones to take out.
02:46The final dish of the Turbo is actually quite simple. We don't really want to mess with how beautiful the fish is.
02:51So it's a beurre blanc, which is a traditional French sauce that is mostly butter, like most of French sauces.
02:57And we do a mix of seaweed and it brings a really nice umami.
03:00We add a touch of dashi at the end and some lemon juice.
03:03Turbo and beurre blanc is something that is quite common. You know, we're not groundbreaking here.
03:07But I think what's different is, first of all, the dry-aging.
03:10In France, it's not something that you're used to. You know, fresh is best and stuff like that.
03:14But I do think that the crispness of our skin really sets us apart with also adding a few components like the dashi, the lemon.
03:22That brings a nice little touch without changing the identity of the sauce is what we're trying to do here.
03:29Some dishes that we do at the restaurant are extremely classical, like the foie gras.
03:34And then some of the dishes, it's like not really French.
03:37But it's just for us, our interpretation of French food, which is get the best ingredients, make a great sauce and make it taste nice.
03:44Time to break down the tuna.
03:46This tuna, we get it directly from Japan, from Toyosu Market.
03:50And we dry-age the belly for roughly a week.
03:52Because of the amount of fat, it really, really dry-ages very well.
03:56And it really gives a nice marbling and those like deep umami flavors.
04:00We're just gonna start by cleaning top parts that has all the bones.
04:05At the restaurant, we have like two rules.
04:07We try and go local as much as we can.
04:10That's why we go to the market.
04:11You know, our meat is from upstate and stuff like that.
04:14But like once a week, we get something that feels like extraordinary.
04:18And that is like our way of treating our guests to something that is like an indulgence.
04:23You see the beautiful fat.
04:25It's just like gorgeous.
04:27When we opened, I was here all day, like from 7 in the morning to midnight.
04:32And I was trying to control everything in a sense that I felt like, you know, I had more experience.
04:37So I knew how to break down tuna better than anyone and like turbo.
04:40And I think being a leader and a restaurant owner for the first time, trying to micromanage everything leads to nowhere.
04:47So here is our truffle dealer.
04:52It's the beginning of white truffle season, which is honestly my favorite mushroom.
04:57And yeah, we're just gonna see what we have here.
05:00It's huge.
05:01We're gonna see how much it weighs.
05:03Yeah, 240 grams.
05:04When we choose a truffle, you're looking for density.
05:07When you press it, you want something that doesn't like kind of bounce because that means that it's not as fresh.
05:12It's also gonna be a problem when you're shaving it and then smell.
05:16You want this like rich aroma.
05:18I think it's really nice when they're a bit bigger, when they're at least like 70 to 80 grams, because it makes like really nice shavings when it's on top of a dish.
05:26It's gonna be really nice. We have some really nice guests tonight and over the week.
05:30So I want to treat them to the best truffle. Ciao.
05:34Have a good day, guys. See you.
05:36Bye, chef.
05:37Bye, chef.
05:41We're gonna cut the turbo for the weights and the price sheets.
05:46The idea when you cut the turbo is to make sure you have different sizes for different imaginary parties.
05:52So we want to have some things that are big enough for one, for two, for three.
05:57Matisse is cutting the Cote de Boeuf that we dry-aged.
06:00This has to also be weighed for us to be able to do the price sheets.
06:03Cote de Boeuf is basically a bone-in ribeye.
06:06It's super, super, I would say French.
06:09In France, we eat quite a lot of Cote de Boeuf.
06:11A lot of people come here and they're like,
06:12ah, there's so much fat, there's this, there's that.
06:14But it's just a really good steak that has been raised well that you see by the marbling that it's heating grass.
06:22It's being treated right, you know, like food.
06:26When you see a produce that looks good, you know it's gonna taste good.
06:29That's it.
06:30It's 11.35.
06:35Right now it's the time where I do all the spreadsheet with the specials, the pricing,
06:40just to communicate that with the front of house team.
06:43We broke it down in the Cote de Boeuf, the boneless strips that we had from yesterday,
06:47the Turbo that we broke down today, and the Toro.
06:50Today we have two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve portions of Turbo, which is pretty nice.
06:56We have two Cote de Boeuf, we have one boneless strip.
06:59I always convert the grams into ounces.
07:02I have no idea what that is.
07:06Americans are more into ounces than grams, so when we talk about the sizing of a special,
07:12it's easier for them to understand.
07:14Getting a Turbo for us is a big risk.
07:16You usually get two Turbos a week, which is roughly like $2,000,
07:19and it's something that is scary for a lot of restaurants, especially when we just opened,
07:25to kind of bet on that and be like, okay, we're gonna take that and, you know,
07:29pay up front and not sure if we're gonna sell it.
07:31This also breakdown really helps us calculate how we make our money on the Turbo
07:38and make sure we have zero loss.
07:40The sheet's all done, and now I'm ready to go back in the kitchen
07:43and do a bit of PTV scoring with Arena.
07:45Let's go.
07:49We have an elevator here, the building that we use, which is super convenient,
07:53but I feel like our neighbors hate us.
07:56This is the prep area.
07:57We have our dry edgers, fish and meat.
08:00We have our dry storage.
08:01We just got some new deliveries.
08:03And here is also where we do production, mostly stuff for the cold side and pastry,
08:09just here.
08:10This is where we make all of our PTV.
08:12We start by taking a sheet of PTV.
08:15There already has been a first layer of egg wash.
08:18PTV is like a pastry that was created about an hour outside of Paris in a town called PTV.
08:25It can be sweet.
08:26It can be savory.
08:27The main component is the puff pastry.
08:30I love the combination of something from the sea and something from the land.
08:33So the idea here is to do this pork pitivier.
08:36And I was also thinking of what could complement the pork.
08:40So it was the smoked eel that caught my eye.
08:42This is a dish that takes days to make.
08:45We have to marion the pork, grind the pork, do the cabbage, blanch the cabbage, cut the eel.
08:51We have to assemble everything.
08:52We have to let it rest for a whole day.
08:54And every day it has to be brushed with egg yolk, dried, brushed again, then scored.
09:00It's just a lot of work and a lot of chefs might be like, okay, I'll just make five a day and call it a day.
09:05But now that it's become so popular, I just want to make sure that everybody that walks through our doors
09:11feels that they can get this little piece of craft and that we never disappoint.
09:16We've had the first layer of egg wash.
09:18It's really important that when you touch the pastry, it doesn't stick anymore.
09:21Then we're going to apply a second layer of egg wash.
09:24The more egg wash you have, the darker it will be when you cook it.
09:28What I like to do is to do what we call the chimney.
09:31The chimney is what lets the steam out because with the pork, with the cabbage,
09:35a lot of steam is going to be crating inside.
09:37And then we're going to start by doing the sides.
09:40It has some function because the more the puff pastry opens up, the crispier it gets.
09:44And so you really have something that is like melting in your mouth.
09:48And then you have this really like crispy, rich, buttery puff pastry.
09:53It takes roughly 35 minutes to cook.
09:56And then I would say ideally a 10-minute rest.
09:59And we serve that with the jus.
10:00And we also serve that with a beetroot ketchup that's lightly spiced.
10:05Really nice, bright.
10:06It kind of cuts through the fat.
10:08And light salad, dressed with vinegar and olive oil.
10:11These are done for the day.
10:16Right now, with Matisse, we're going to prepare the foie gras.
10:19So it's the tirine.
10:20Foie gras is the duck liver.
10:22And it's really like a delicacy in France.
10:24We usually have it for Christmas, for celebrations.
10:27And like the tirine, the actual foie that we get, we marinate them.
10:32And then we steam them in the oven.
10:34And we're just going to put them all together.
10:36We put a layer of artichoke in the center, which brings a nice earthiness to it.
10:41And kind of like press it overnight.
10:43And the next day, we put the fat of the foie gras, the drippings during the cooking process.
10:49Put it back in the fridge in between each coating.
10:51So that it creates a thicker layer of the fat.
10:54Because otherwise it will oxidize.
10:56But we serve it with a really cool condiment that Matisse came up with.
11:00It's like burned grapefruits.
11:02So we literally burn whole grapefruits in the oven.
11:05And then we just take only the flesh.
11:08And it brings this really intense, bitter, sweet condiment that complements the fattiness of the foie.
11:15And I feel like every person that's had this dish always talks about the condiments.
11:20And even the French people, they just love how different it is here than what they've seen even in France.
11:25All the different layers that you see here, it's just all the different pieces of foie that we put together.
11:31And once we push them all together, they're going to create different levels.
11:35Where we're going to have some fat that's going to come at different angles.
11:39Next, we're going to put this back in the fridge.
11:40And Matisse is already going to start doing the coating process for another 30 to 40 minutes.
11:46Just to make sure it's ready for service.
11:52It's 3 o'clock. It's ready to set up the pass.
11:55So the idea is to just set up all the little things, the condiments that we'll need for service.
12:00During service, I'm using these to kind of finish the dishes.
12:03A bit of olive oil, extra virgin, some fresh lemon juice, red pepper puree to build the uni French toast.
12:09We have a bunch of spoons, some spatulas, some little tweezers, two plates.
12:15I'm just going to add some warm water to them.
12:18I just regularly put warm water to take off all the residue that you will feel throughout service.
12:24And the spoons. We have some Maldon sea salt.
12:27And then some little wipes that the front of house does for me.
12:30So I can just put a bit of vinegar that we have here and kind of like wipe the plates.
12:34During service, I just am here with Matisse.
12:37We move around and we just have a good vision.
12:40We kind of also go help the line if needed.
12:42The idea is for us to really focus on expediting and making sure the food gets out the fastest as possible.
12:48And also the hottest as possible.
12:50So my station is all set up.
12:52Now it's time to take a break.
12:53And I found you.
12:54It's 4.40.
12:58I'm done with my break.
12:59And now it's time to explain all the specials to front of house.
13:01Tonight, four specials, the same as yesterday.
13:04We have the Toro from Japan.
13:07We have, I would say, 10 of these.
13:08Turbo.
13:09We have 12 portions, different sizes.
13:11We have one that's quite small, that's good for one person.
13:14The 135.
13:15I wouldn't push it for more than one.
13:16And we have a huge truffle tonight.
13:19I think it's a really nice show.
13:21I think people are going to enjoy that.
13:22So we have no count on potato and truffles tonight.
13:25And if they want to add some truffle to the Turbo, I think it's a nice touch.
13:30Okay?
13:31Okay, guys.
13:32We're going to go through the VIPs tonight.
13:35We have the top.
13:36Now we're just going to check everything in the kitchen and do a little briefing for service with the kitchen team.
13:42So the idea is to try all the components of every section.
13:47Just to make sure we're on the same page for texture, salt, and just overall taste.
13:51The idea is each person from each section sets up their own tray.
13:56It just makes us accountable for each of our stations.
14:01Maybe put a touch of acid on top of the mayo.
14:04The juice is good, yeah.
14:05Yeah, it's good.
14:06How's the cream?
14:07Here we check the peaks to see if they hold tight so that when we do the desserts, it doesn't kind of fall.
14:12Let's do a quick line-up.
14:14Hi.
14:15Tonight's 76 on the book.
14:16I think we can expect 85.
14:18A lot of cool people coming in, some investors, some regulars.
14:23We have Martha Stewart coming in at 7 with one of our regulars.
14:29Yeah.
14:30Great.
14:31Good.
14:32Hell yeah.
14:33Let's do it.
14:34Good service.
14:35Good service.
14:36It's 5 o'clock.
14:37We're ready for service.
14:38We're not crazy, crazy busy at the start, which is going to be nice for us to kind of take our time and make it nice.
14:45I stay during the whole service.
14:47I call out the checks and then I'm very hands-on, especially for specials, especially because they're kind of created on the fly.
14:55So it's extremely intense for back-of-house team to be okay with roll with a bunch of new dishes all the time, which is also what keeps it exciting.
15:03Let's do a label here, guys, for the Milon Place.
15:06What's your pre-shift drink?
15:08Matcha, coconut water, salt, and lemon juice.
15:11I used to drink Red Bulls, but it's not really good for you.
15:13Okay, check on.
15:15Two unis, followed by razors, followed by short rib, followed by clapoutis.
15:22In French cuisine, saying we share back is a sign of you've understood your assignment and you know what's going on.
15:29And it's a good cohesive way of all being on the same page and pushing together to get the service going.
15:37We always send complimentary bread first.
15:40So that's really important for us because we're a French restaurant in France, you never pay for bread and butter.
15:45So that's something that we will always do here.
15:48So we cut the bread, put it in the oven.
15:51The idea is to just have a warm bread to serve with the butter, which is right now some dill pollen, a bit of honey and salt.
15:59This is the uni French toast. It's our second best seller after the sweet shrimp cartelette.
16:03So we start with the uni. We do a bit of lemon juice on each bite.
16:08We go with a bit of salt, some pepper, and then we go in and we take our bone marrow and we kind of sit in the center.
16:16And then we finish with some nice marigolds.
16:19I think it's the perfect mix of like brininess, saltiness, comfort, and a perfect way to start a meal at Le Chien.
16:25Check on!
16:26Two shrimp, two uni with white truffle, followed by Petivier, Côte de Bœuf, 830, sorry, medium rare.
16:34Followed by Clafoutier, it's not the Côte de Bœuf, it's the boneless strip.
16:36Boneless strip?
16:37Yeah.
16:38Now two people, living well.
16:41Being a chef owner for the first time feels extremely freeing.
16:45I feel very serene that if something bad happens, I can handle it.
16:49And if something good happens, I can choose what to do in the kitchen.
16:53I can choose what I want to focus on as a restaurant.
16:56And I'm at a stage of my career where I really needed that to kind of just make a place my own
17:01and be a bit more genuine when the food and the hospitality comes together.
17:06Hey guys, now it's time for you to go.
17:08We have a lot more people to feed and I'll see you soon.