How to Create an Addictive Restaurant
An Interview with the Folks at the New Restaurant Joseph Leonard
September 18, 2009
The Pushers in this story
Gabe Stulman - owner
Jim McDuffee - executive chef
If you’ve ever read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (and if you haven’t you should), you might remember a discussion in which the author describes the difference between a good motorcycle mechanic and a bad one. He concludes that it really boils down to one thing: caring about what you’re doing. And, typically, that’s what separates the good from the great in most industries. It sounds simple, but so few people understand the power of this concept.
So, when I sat down at the new restaurant Joseph Leonard with owner Gabe Stulman and head chef Jim McDuffee, it was refreshing to hear them both speak of this idea independently. It’s at the heart of why they’ve both seen a great deal of success at such an early age.
Gabe is in his late twenties (gosh, do I feel unaccomplished), and he has already seen his previous restaurants, The Little Owl and Market Table, become more successful than anyone anticipated. I asked him what the secret to his success has been, and with a humble sincerity he tells me, “The only reason I’ve been successful is that I’ve been lucky enough to surround myself with people who are more talented than I am.”
He’s very gracious, but I think the real reason Gabe has been successful is, well, Gabe. He has worked extremely hard – typically, he’s worked round the clock 7 days a week, and he appreciates the “hustle” that you find in so many New Yorkers. He also understands that a great restaurant is more than just great food – it is a part of the neighborhood. He tells me about one of his early gigs in college where he worked at a bar/restaurant and how he loved the communal feel of the place. It was full of regulars who treated each other like family. It was more than just a restaurant – it was a meeting place and a home for many of the people who came there. And that’s what it’s all about.
It is that sense of community that is infused into Gabe’s restaurants, and possibly perfected in Joseph Leonard. He tells me that The Little Owl became a victim of its own success. It was featured in so many media outlets (even Martha Stewart featured it) that reservations became nearly impossible to secure. When reservations are booked a month in advance, you don’t get the locals anymore, and it ceases to be a part of the community, instead becoming something of a tourist attraction.
People who eat in their own neighborhood don’t plan their meals a month in advance. They just drop by. Thus, Joseph Leonard won’t take reservations. Everyone who drops by has an equal chance of getting in, so you’re much more likely to see neighborhood locals and regulars rather than the couple from Ohio who are there on vacation.
When I asked Gabe why he wanted French food to be served at Joseph Leonard, he smiled and said, “There’s nothing better than French food. Can you think of anything better than a whole roasted chicken?” I couldn’t, and I knew exactly what he meant.
You get a sense from talking to Gabe that he knows what people want in a restaurant and that he’s going to take care of you, that he’s going to make sure you have an authentic experience in his place and that you’re going to feel good about spending your money there.
When Gabe said he has been lucky to surround himself with great talent, he wasn’t kidding. He’s brought Jim McDuffee over as the head chef. Jim comes directly from Bouchon Bakery (he was the sous chef there), and he has also had stints at La Grenouille, Cafeteria (in Miami), and La Esquina (he was the ex chef there when it opened, so you can thank him for the original menu).
Hearing Jim talk about cooking is a lot like hearing my nephew talk about Disney world – he loves everything about it. He tells me about the science behind some of his favorite dishes (confessing he’s a science nerd) and describes how starch leeches out of the potato and thickens up the cream to make a better gratin. He then describes the process of creating duck rillette, which includes a step where you cover the duck in fat for an extended period of time to keep it from oxidizing. Mmmm, unoxidized duck fat.
We also discussed his obsession with cookbooks. His collection is quite impressive. From the old guard chefs, he has Cuisinier a la Roanne by Jean and Pierre Troisgros, Cuisine Minceur by Michel Guerard and Paul Bocuse's French Cooking – all of which are out of print or hard to find. He swears by http://www.bonnieslotnickcookbooks.com/ if you’re on the hunt for rare cookbooks.
Towards the end of the interview, Jim said something that really struck me. “Great food comes from letting the ingredients and the technique talk. You don’t have to be overly creative about it.” What he’s talking about here is an organic approach to his art form. If you know how to source great ingredients and your technique is polished, there’s no need to overdo it. The flavors will happen.
So, there you have it…just two passionate young men (dare I say, "restaurant addicts?"), at the top of their game, opening a new French restaurant in the West Village. They know what makes a restaurant addictive, and I can’t wait to try the food.
We held the interview in the restaurant, and the space is open and friendly. It seats 34, and 15 of those seats are at the large, curvy bar. A bookshelf on one end houses some of Jim’s favorite rare cookbooks in case you’re in the mood to peruse one, and they have free wi-fi, so you can Wikipedia till your heart’s content while you chill out with one of their 11 wines by the glass or a cocktail from their fully stocked bar.
I plan to try the food sometime next week, so stay tuned for a review coming soon.
Joseph Leonard is located at 170 Waverly Place (at Grove) and the number is 646-429-8383.
Here's another picture of the space:
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The Casellula Pushers
A Passion for Tomme de Savoie
Or Why a Chef with Hot Hands Can’t Make Sushi
An Interview with the Big Cheeses at Casellula
The Pushers in this Story
Brian Keyser: Owner/General Manager
Megan Johnson: Head Chef
Leigh Friend: Pastry Chef
Casellula: (noun) slang, Latin: little hut
The word cheese is derived from the Latin caseus. Thus, it follows, that the wine and cheese café Casellula – which means little hut in Latin slang (Who says Latin is dead?) – would derive its name from the same root. And, come on, you know anyone who uses Latin slang to name their restaurant is going to be geeky-cool and interesting. And Brian Keyser, the owner of Casellula, and his team proved to be just that.
Brian started out in the restaurant industry in Cape Cod, and his first NY gig was at Union Square Café. What I loved about Brian is that almost immediately into the interview he dove into some philosophy. He tells me that “at some point in fine dining, there was a hierarchy established, and people started saying ‘that’s not my job.’ What happens next is that people are just looking out for themselves, which actually ends up making everyone else’s job more difficult. What people don’t understand is that the more hard work you put into helping other people, the easier your job becomes – as long as everyone has that same attitude.” He loves the idea of everyone working together to do everything and sees that as a key component to a restaurant running smoothly. I felt like this is a lesson a lot of Americans miss, and I couldn’t help wondering if this same philosophy could be applied to just about every other aspect of life.
After several years of working in some great restaurants in New York (like Ouest and Chanterelle), developing a love for countless cheeses, and falling particularly hard for a Tomme de Savoie (a mild, semi-firm, cow’s milk cheese), Brian decided it was time to go west (not just because the Village People had insisted, but because it is a hub for world class cheese-makers) to do some heavy-duty cheese sleuthing.
I’ve never seen cheese being made, but to hear Brian describe it makes me feel like I’m missing out on an important life experience. He says, “To see cheese being made is like watching a little miracle. To watch them milk the sheep, then add the rennet (an enzyme produced in a calf’s stomach) and to see the milk separate…it’s like watching a baby being born.” Brian spent several months on the west coast watching this miracle happen over and over and described how each farm had its own unique personality that was intrinsically infused into the cheese itself. I was reminded of a sommelier friend of mine who once claimed he could describe the personality of a wine maker just from tasting his wine. I asked if it was the same with cheese, and Brian said, “Yes. Even more so with cheese, because the variations are more pronounced. There’s a woman named Kelly Estrella in Washington, and she’s very quirky. She makes whatever cheese she’s in the mood for. She might start out making one cheese and end up with something different. No two wheels of cheese from Kelly are the same, and it’s wonderful. On the other hand, there is a former engineer who makes cheese at Tumelo Farms, and he is very precise. Every cheese is structurally sound, consistent and perfect. And that cheese is wonderful for different reasons. So, yeah, you definitely taste the personality of the cheese maker in each cheese.”
You can hear the passion in his voice, and after his extended time on the west coast, armed with a greater understanding of fromage of all types, Brian set to open one of the most interesting and welcome additions to Hell’s Kitchen in the summer of 2007. It’s been going strong ever since.
Casellula has over 40 different types of cheeses on the menu (many of which are featured in a large display case in the restaurant), but that isn’t the only reason it has been successful. Megan Johnson and Leigh Friend, the head chef and pastry chef respectively, have ensured many a local’s addiction with inventive savory and sweet dishes.
The common thread among Casellula’s team seems to be a connection to Danny Meyers’ restaurants, and Megan is no exception. She spent 2 years at Gramercy Tavern, and I was fascinated by her attention to detail as she described the effort that goes into a Duck Torchon, one of the dishes that she used to make there. It begins with de-veining a duck liver with tweezers and ends, about two days later, with a presentation involving a seamless tube of the liver. “Complicating the process,” she tells me, “is the fact that I have warm hands. If I didn’t perform a lot of the process in the walk-in refrigerator, I might melt part of the liver. Most women have warm hands, and that’s why very few of them are sushi chefs.” These are the nuances of high end cooking that I would never think of.
In addition to Gramercy Tavern, Megan has worked everywhere from Fitzner’s Café, a well known place in Dublin, to a French Bistro and a Latin restaurant in Seatle. This sort of diversity serves her well with the diverse menu at Casellula, and that is probably why we see such inventive dishes from her.
The yin to the rest of the team’s yang is pastry chef Leigh Friend. One of the first things Leigh tells me about is how meditative and peaceful it is to make bread. “You become one with the dough. It’s actually alive, and there is a rhythm that develops between you and the dough. It’s simple, yet involved.” It sounded wonderful and strangely similar to yoga. Leigh also loves the science behind breads. “There’s no fudging it. If you have an extra half a teaspoon of an ingredient, your bread doesn’t come out right. I also love that there is a formula for adjusting a recipe. For example, if the texture of a pasta dough isn’t just so, I’ll know to add an extra egg yolk to make it perfect.”
Leigh’s Zen, yet structured approach to pastries has yielded some of my favorite dessert experiences in the city. I still stand by the first taste of the apple pandowdy that I had over a year ago as the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I had to seek treatment when it was taken off the menu. Thankfully, it’s back. Leigh says it has been tweaked slightly and that (if possible) it is even better than before.