Bill Telepan of Telepan
Mark Grosz of Oceanique , Evanston Illinois
Rob Evans of Hugo's, Portland Maine
Chef Bill Telepan's eponymous restaurant opened on the Upper West Side of New York in December of 2005. His cuisine draws its inspiration from the freshest ingredients, simply and skillfully prepared. "It's about allowing the natural flavors to emerge from the ingredients," says Telepan. Telepan buys locally and cooks seasonally—creating honest, robust dishes that have been hailed by Gael Greene as "bravura food" in New York Magazine. He delivers "a grade of American cooking to which all other restaurants aspire," according to Gourmet.
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Telepan was schooled at some of the world's top kitchens. He apprenticed with the legendary Alain Chapel at his eponymous three Michelin star restaurant, outside Lyons. Under Chapel, he honed his culinary skills, and learned the importance of strict discipline and of retaining the integrity of fresh ingredients. On his return to New York in the early 90's, Telepan worked under Daniel Boulud at Le Cirque and Gilbert Le Coze at Le Bernardin. Subsequently, he was hired by Alfred Portale at Gotham Bar & Grill, where he was executive sous chef for four years. He moved on to become the executive chef at Ansonia.
In l998 Telepan joined JUdson Grill, earning three-stars from The New York Times. He remained at JUdson until 2004. That same year in November, his cookbook, Inspired by Ingredients was published by Simon & Schuster.
Telepan was voted "Best New Restaurant" by Zagat's in 2007 and also received a nod from Wine Spectator with a "Best Of - Award of Excellence" for their wine selections. In their October 2007 issue, Gourmet Magazine listed Telepan among a select group of "America's Best Farm-to-Table Restaurants" in the "Urban Restaurant" category.
We caught up with Chef Telepan, who has been a long time client and friend of Browne Trading, and asked him a few questions about life in the kitchen:
Browne: What is your favorite seafood dish to prepare at home for family and friends?
Chef Telepan: One of my favorites at home for my wife and daughter is to make a simple and rustic pasta dish with either braised cod or sea bass, simmered in crushed tomatoes and heavy garlic. Since my daughter is young and hasn't quite taken to the seafood, I like to remove the fish from the sauce, throw in some clams until they open, pull the clams and finish the dish with the pasta. That way the adults enjoy the fish and my daughter still gets those great seafood flavors in her sauce.
Of course, I love to cook with things that are seasonal, and my style is always to keep things fresh and simple. When I can meld the seasonality of the garden with the sea, then I know I've got a winner. In high summer, one of my favorites at home is a quick pasta with garden cherry tomatoes, broccoli rabe, and some mashed sardines that add some nice flavor and oil. In winter, when they are in peak season, I love to prepare bay scallops, raw, with a strong citrus juice such as Meyer lemons or ruby red grapefruit, finished with a Tuscan extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.
Browne: What do you consider the greatest culinary experience of your life?
Chef Telepan: Unquestionably it was my time spent in France working in a Three Star Michelin restaurant with Chef Alain Chapel, who I consider one of the best chefs that ever existed. My experience working in that kitchen for 80 to 90 hours a week is really beyond description. It completely opened my eyes to the greatness of seasonal cooking.
Browne: Who (or what) has had the greatest influence on your cooking?
Chef Telepan: Certainly every chef I ever worked with – from Alain to Daniel Boulud, Gilbert Le Coze and Alfred Portale - had a huge impact on how I approached cooking. But working in Europe, and having exposure to the mindset of cooking with the best seasonal ingredients specific to the region I was working in, really defined my cooking style. Even before I really became a professional chef, I took that experience home to the States with me, and was practicing it in my own kitchen just cooking for myself. And certainly reading Alice Waters, who was the first real American champion of seasonality in cooking, was an influence, especially when it came to setting a menu based upon the fresh ingredients at hand.
Browne: What are the tools of the trade you use most in your home kitchen?
Chef Telepan: Without a doubt, a great paring and chef's knife are invaluable. But the real trick isn't spending a fortune on high end knives; the trick is keeping them sharp. I would tell the home chef to invest in a diamond steel and learn how to use it. Eventually all knives wear down over time, so buy middle cost knives that you keep sharp until they need to be retired. I go through a lot of paring knives at home and at the restaurant, so I buy the low cost ones that hold an edge well.
Another really versatile item for home is my six quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven. I've had it for over ten years and it's probably the most used piece of cookery at home. It's a workhorse and it's almost limitless what you can do with it – I make pasta sauces, soups, stews, whatever – and it's still big enough to sear and braise large pieces of meat.
My last pick might be overlooked and underrated, but in my house our blender gets a lot of use, from everything to making soups, fruit purees for ice pops for our daughter, simple syrups, and of course, turning out a healthy margarita now and then.
Browne: Tell us one secret about the selection or preparation of seafood.
Chef Telepan: I don't know if these are "secrets", but there are some standard things I look for when selecting quality fish. It is very important to understand the unique qualities of the species you are looking at, so I would encourage everyone to learn the most they can about these differences. Some fish fillets may be naturally grey but if you are unfamiliar with it you might assume it should be white, etc. But one thing I always look at when buying fish fillets is for separations in the grain of the flesh – is the fillet tight, or does it seem to be pulling apart? Separations generally indicate there is some age on it, so I tend to avoid buying those.
Telepan
72 West 69 Street
New York, NY 10023
p: 212.580.4300
www.telepan-ny.com
Click here for Telepan's "Peekytoe Crab Cocktail with Sevruga Caviar" recipe!
