Change of pace a little, who are some of the young, up and coming chefs that you think we should know about?
Adam Platt: Oh god… Who are they? … I generally think New York is full of lots of talented chefs. But, I think, when I started writing it was at the tail end of this superstar era of chefs. The 90’s we’re full of these superstars like Mario Batali, Jean-Georges, Danielle, and the irony is that we’ve moved into oughts, those guys are all still there, but the new generation of “superstars”, you know, the appetite for superstars is increased because of the web.
What’s happened in my time on the job is that the people who used to run the kitchens, like the kitchen slaves of the world have really sort of stormed the palace and taken over, and so, Batali sort of started it. But you know, April Bloomfield, David Cheng, these are sort of back, they’re cooking the type of food that chefs traditionally like to eat: burgers, pork, pork buns, ramen. They’ve taken the glamour and fanciness, they’ve aggressively taken it out of the front of the house; the kitchen is right in front of the diners, the diners are eating simpler food.
Have you actually been to Neta, which is right down the street?
Yeah, I reviewed there, but then those guys moved. Those guys moved to a place called Shuko which I just reviewed, I gave it four stars! It was good, it was better there, Why? Because they have big money behind them now. Great ingredients now, flown in from all over. The space is nicer.
That’s the thing, being a chef in New York it’s like being a young soccer star in like, Europe. It’s like these guys get backers from a young age. It’s like, the money that is put into them is very important, you need the money. All these guys, Batali, they all have big money behind them. Young chef, you could do your stuff out of Brooklyn, but like... you know, what is that place out in Brooklyn? Their new restaurant is Dover, two very young chefs.
I saw it on your list, right? 2015?
Yeah! They’re great, you can look at my list. These days there are more good chefs around, all over the place. Because you don't have to be even in Manhattan, or New York to get a reputation. Just start cooking… wherever! Martinsville, Virginia, the food gastronome will find you. There are less fancy chefs, but there are more good chefs and good restaurants. Less fancy restaurants.