Per Se Kitchen Tour

Thomas Keller could be considered the King of the restaurant industry. Yet even with his success he still doesn’t wake up and say I’ve arrived. Once a person says this they are done and need to get out of the business. From The French Laundry in Yountville, California to Per Se in New York City quality doesn’t change. Both of these restaurants have received three Michelin stars and if there were four they would receive that.

Thomas Keller was born October 14, 1955 at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California. Keller’s father, Edward, was a Marine drill instructor and his mother, Betty, was a restaurateur. During his teenage summers, he worked at the Palm Beach Yacht Club, first as a dishwasher and quickly moving up to cook. One summer he was discovered by Roland Henin and under Henin’s study learned the fundamentals of classical French Cooking. After working in many more restaurants including apprenticeships in Paris, he opened The French Laundry in 1994.

While walking to lunch at Jean George I saw a sign to Per Se. I went inside and looked around in amazement. The Matrie’d approached me and asked if I needed any help. I told him unfortunately I couldn’t eat their but asked if I could go on a kitchen tour. He told me to come back at four o’clock when the kitchen wouldn’t be so busy.

After eating a delicious lunch at Jean George I went back to Per Se. Sitting in the lounge at Per Se waiting for the kitchen tour was like waiting for Christmas morning. When we went in the kitchen everyone was hard at work preparing for the dinner pop. We were shown around the whole kitchen and the private dining room. Just being there you gave you a feeling of importance, from the five stars on the ceiling to the team of disciplined cooks. Anthony Bourdain had spoken of this long dark hallway leading from the kitchen to the dining room. The purpose of this supposed hallway was to distress the servers before entering the dining room. Guess what, I got to walk down this hallway, so it’s really there.

The restaurant is just so clean and fresh feeling. Everyone is absolutely working their tail off, putting their all into every dish. I could see why someone would want to dine at this sacred facility.


Entrance

















Kitchen Shots




































































Columbus Circle