Anderson Edward Leon - Atelier Crenn: metamorphosis of taste

Atelier Crenn
Metamorphosis of Taste

Dominique Crenn

with Karen Leibowitz

Atelier Crenn
Metamorphosis of Taste

Photographs by Ed Anderson

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT
BOSTON NEW YORK 2015

Copyright 2015 by Dominique Crenn

Photography copyright 2015 by Ed Anderson

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections
from this book, write to Permissions,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,
215 Park Avenue South,
New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crenn, Dominique.

Atelier Crenn : metamorphosis of taste / Dominique Crenn with

Karen Leibowitz ; Photography by Ed Anderson.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-544-44467-6 (hardback)

ISBN 978-0-544-44468-3 (ebook)

1. Cooking, French. 2. Seasonal cooking. 3. Atelier Crenn
(Restaurant) I. Title.

TX719.C74 2015

641.5944--dc23

2015017438

Design by Level, Calistoga, CA

v1.1115

FOR PAPA CRENN

Food that delights the palate the way a poem delights the ear; each dish layers meaning within the meal in the way that a single line of poetry builds toward the significance of a poem. Such is the cuisine youll find at San Franciscos lauded Atelier Crenn, where chef and owner Dominique Crenn, the first woman in the United States to receive two Michelin stars, has created a captivating dining experience in which the food is best described as pure art. In French, atelier refers to an artists workshop, a space to create, and Crenns modernist cuisine embodies the idea that food is a means of artistic expression. Atelier Crenn is divided into chapters on Origin, Plant, Sea, Land, Dream, and Craft, and the imaginative recipes are interpretations of Crenns idyllic childhood on the coast and farms of Brittany, her experience dining and training in sophisticated restaurants around the world, and her evolution into a renowned chef. Her evocative dishes are inspired by, and pay homage to, the natural world. There is A Walk in the Forest, with its intricate elements like basil soil, mushroom whims, and hazelnut praline, and The Sea, which includes squid ink meringue, smoked trout roe, and saffron aioli. Other dishes have more recognizable names, like Fish and Chips or Broccoli and Beef Tartare, but nevertheless challenge expectations with their surprising components and techniques. With her signature artistry and celebration of sustainable and seasonal ingredients, Crenn creates nuanced food that merges tradition and innovation as well as memories and imagination. Truly stunning photography of show-stopping dishes and behind-the-scenes views of the restaurant are interleaved throughout. Crenns approach to cooking is to create a feeling, a memory, an idea, and her debut cookbook seeks to inspire readers to regard the kitchen as an atelier where they can create their own art.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THIS BOOK WOULD NOT EXIST without the contributions of many, many people.

I want to thank everyone who has ever stepped inside Atelier Crenn, from stagiaires to chefs de cuisine, from bussers to managers, from visiting guests to regular customers, and from my business partner, Michelle Astorian, to the investors who have helped transform my dream and my vision into reality. Together, we have made Atelier Crenn what it is.

In the course of writing this book, I have drawn enormous support and inspiration from my coauthor, Karen Leibowitz, who translated the amorphous spirit of Atelier Crenn into words. I would also like to thank Juan Contreras, who spent many hours explaining his meticulous work as pastry chef; Mehdi Boudiab, who generously contributed to the bread recipes; and all the staff, who helped harness the details of our kitchen into written form. I am grateful that Ed Anderson, our photographer, captured the aesthetic of Atelier Crenn for these pages, and that Ty Lettau did the same for us online. My agent, Michael Psaltis, has believed in me for years, and my editor, Justin Schwartz, allowed us the freedom to create a book that truly reflects Atelier Crenn. Heartfelt thanks are due to Nancy Silverton, for her lovely foreword, to Wendy MacNaughton, for her participation in the creative process during my earliest book discussions with Karen, and to Karens husband, Anthony Myint, for his ongoing engagement with the book at every stage of its development.

Thanks, also, to all of the chefs and other artists who have inspired and continue to inspire me, including Dan Barber, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Baudelaire, Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Bras, Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, Frdric Chopin, Salvador Dal, Jimi Hendrix, David Kinch, Joan Mir, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nathan Myhrvold, Daniel Patterson, Olivier Roellinger, and Jeremiah Tower.

This book is dedicated to everyone I love

especially Louise, Allain, and Jean-Christophe Crenn

DOMINIQUE CRENN is like a Marvel superhero.

If you are familiar with Marvel superheroes, you know they lead two lives. They have their superhero lives where they leap or fly or cling to buildings all over town fighting evil people and saving the world from doom.

And then they have their regular life where they look like normal folk, and you wouldnt even know they are anything special. The Incredible Hulk, for example, is Dr. Bruce Banner, a physicist. The Amazing Spiderman is Peter Parker, a student and photographer in his everyday life. Thor, the Norse god of thunder and lightning, is Dr. Donald Blake, a respected surgeon.

And Dominque Crenn, the acclaimed superhero chef is, in her regular life, a cook.

I think in her heart, in that very artistic heart of hers, she might have fun being the superhero chefwho wouldnt?but she is most in her element, most in her purest state of bliss, when she is being a cook.

Still, like all superheroes, it is fun to see the transformation. Its exciting to see her magically transform from cook to superhero chef.

I have seen superhero Dominique single-handedly take a celebrity chefstudded food event that was heading toward doldrums and transform it into a joyous, free-spirited party with her super powers of unrestrained spontaneity, mischievousness, merrymaking, and beauty.

And I have seen regular Dominque inconspicuously walk into my restaurant in Los Angeles, dressed casually, and quietly take a seat at the Mozzarella Bar. Ive seen her ask the server about the dishes like she didnt know foie gras from chopped liver. Ive seen her quietly study the plate when it arrived, sniff, and slowly taste. A cook still learning. Or at least hoping to learn.

And, to me, that is the mark of the great ones. The chefs, the cooks, who after all the acclaim, all the stars and rave reviews, are still leaning, still searching for flavor. Thats Dominque Crenn.

I first met Dominque Crenn two years ago at a food event in downtown Los Angeles. She was sitting at a table with a mutual friend, quietly sipping a glass of white wine. We quickly hit it off, talking about our worlds in the kitchen.

I learned she was, like me, deeply influenced by her father, who you will read about in this books opening pages. He was an artist, and I think Dominque is an artist. A poet, too.

When you go through this book, I think you will agree. Go to one of the opening chapters, Metamorphosis, and read perhaps the loveliest, most poetic menu ever called Chefs Grand Tasting Menu. Poetic Culinary. Read and you will understand.