16 Recipes to Make at Home for a Taste of Thomas Keller (2024)

FAQs

What is Thomas Keller's signature dish? ›

Salmon Cornet

It became one of the signatures at French Laundry and was always more of an experience than a course. The idea was to reduce the intimidation and make people smile right off the bat. If you can't smile at the coronet, it's like you have no sense of humor.”

Oysters and Pearls

This is perhaps one of chef Keller's most famous dishes, a sabayon of pearl tapioca, beau soleil oysters and white sturgeon caviar.

He opened his first restaurant, Rakel, in New York City in 1986, then moved westward to California to work as the executive chef at the Checkers Hotel in Los Angeles. In 1994, Keller took ownership of The French Laundry in Yountville, quickly garnering nationwide acclaim.

He is the first and only American-born chef to hold multiple three-star ratings from the prestigious Michelin Guide, as well as the first American male chef to be designated a Chevalier of The French Legion of Honor.

In the introduction to Bouchon (2004), Keller writes, “Bistro cooking is my favourite food to eat. Roast chicken and a salad of fresh lettuces with a simple vinaigrette. Frisée salad with crisp, chewy lardons and a poached egg. A dense steak with lemon-herb butter and frites.

A signature dish is a recipe that identifies an individual chef or restaurant. Ideally it should be unique and allow an informed gastronome to name the chef in a blind tasting. It can be thought of as the culinary equivalent of an artist finding their own style, or an author finding their own voice.

“The egg certainly has to be my favorite ingredient,” says Chef Thomas Keller, “and certainly one of my favorites to eat.” To prove it, he has two hard-boiled eggs with olive oil every morning.

1. Consommé Devilish dish: A clear soup made from meat, tomato, egg whites and stock, slowly simmered to bring impurities to the surface for skimming. Techn-eeek: Even some of the most experienced chefs cannot master the complex clarification process required to make consommé.

Keller is the first and only American-born chef to hold multiple three-star ratings from the prestigious Michelin Guide and is the first American male chef to be designated a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, France's paramount honorary order.

Thomas Keller is an American chef who has been awarded titles like best chef in America and California multiple times. His restaurants hold seven Michelin stars. He worked his way from kitchen apprentice to very successful and famous chef over many years.

Does Thomas Keller cook at The French Laundry? ›

He is the only American chef to have been awarded simultaneous three-star Michelin ratings for two different restaurants. His restaurants currently hold seven Michelin stars in total: three at Per Se, three at The French Laundry, and one at The Surf Club Restaurant.

Thomas Keller's quote, "Cooking is not about being the best or most perfect cook, but rather it is about sharing the table with family and friends," encapsulates the true essence of the culinary experience.

With 10 properties and over 800 employees, the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group (TKRG) has grown from one restaurant to a large family of businesses. TKRG proudly represents The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon Bistro, Bouchon Bakery, Ad Hoc, La Calenda and The Surf Club Restaurant.

He studied in France with Chef Roland Henin and apprenticed at several Michelin-starred restaurants before opening his first restaurant, Rakel, in New York City in 1986. Chef Keller is the 2021 Michelin Guide's Mentor Chef Award recipient.

One dish encapsulates Keller's approach more than any other. From the day The French Laundry opened, every diner has been greeted with a single, sublime bite: a tiny cone filled with a scoop of cool salmon tartare and a touch of crème fraiche, and finished with a jaunty chive.

Thomas Keller is known for applying American flavors to French classics.

New Orleans is famous for a lot of foods, and chief among them is the traditional rice dish known as jambalaya.