Baddy Is Doing Good
Just off the phone with former-kinda-sorta still Consilient chef, Nick Badovinus. He’s hanging around his crib in Kessler Park and weighing his future. In a few weeks he’s gonna head to San Francisco for some R&R&R&D. We were talking about fancy pants high-end cusisine and I asked him what he thought about the French Laundry. He shot back in classic Baddyspeak: “The best thing about going to the French Laundry is the In-N–Out in Napa.” I couldn’t agree with him more.
9 Comments to “Baddy Is Doing Good”
Leave a Reply
All material copyright © 2008 D Magazine. All rights reserved.
order a piece of humble pie for this big-fish-small-pond chef. I thoroughly look forward to Badovinus’ attempt at haute cuisine because then maybe he will learn some respect for chefs like Keller and his 6(!) Michelin stars, and his Beard awards (as both a chef and an operator), and his multi-unit, multi-city, multi-COAST, multi-MILLION DOLLAR operation. When he says things like the above I think of it as the equivalent of the leading scorer on the Skyline boy’s basketball team telling me that Kobe’s game really isn’t that solid.
Better to be humble, lest you stumble.
Big time kudos for entering a brave, new world, Mr. Badovinus. Many Chefs don’t have that courage, but you should have respect for those who’s walls are already decorated with the skins you covet.
…though he is right about the genius of In-N-Out
“Baddy” would be more qualified to stage at In-N-Out than the French Laundry. In time, perhaps he could spend a couple of weeks as plongeur at the latter…if he could just leave the female customers (and food critics) alone.
Todd
By the way, the above Todd J opinion does not necessarily reflect the opinion of this Todd J who contributes daily to the blog. IJS.
Badovinus is not a chef. He’s a designer of chain-inflected menus for middlebrow palates in a second-tier restaurant market. His statement says a great deal about his poor taste and/or his insecurities.
Since you’re endorsing this clown’s feeble would-be iconoclasm, Nancy, could you tell us why? How many times have you been to The French Laundry? How is it that most national and international food critics consider the place something special, while you think it’s less interesting than a burger chain?
I should have explained the conversation better. We were talking about the prices at those restaurants. I told him I’d just spent $3,500 to eat at Alain Ducasse in Paris ( 5 people, two bottles of wine) and that I was still hungry afterward. The prices at French Laundry take the fun of the experience away. Sure it’s “special” but I think it is over-rated and I don’t just follow what international food critics say. They both have their own “sense of saturation.”
I think that the fact that this chef has earned an semi-affectionate nickname speaks volumes to your lack of objectiveness for his cuisine. I don’t mean to question your credibility, but please quit calling him “Baddy”. Any review you give his new ventures will be lost in his frosted locks and charismatic yarns.
So that means I can’t call Jim Severson “Sevy”? IJS.
Baddy responds:Since I have some time on my hands vs some thyme in my hands, I wanted to take a minute and be clear. Its not like I don’t respect Thomas Keller or was taking a shot at anything he has done. He is a far better technical cook (Chef) than I could ever hope to be. Read about him, it’s a hell of a story. I keep both of his cookbooks by my bed. I thought the food @ the Laundry and Per Se was outstanding. The service, a little better @ Per Se, but if you dig the Euro style, first class. I just can’t get behind dropping two months of my kid’s Montessori tuition or round trip to Maui for that type of experience on a regular basis and still be strangely sorta hungry. Maybe I should’nt have fasted for 24 hours because I was so stoked to finally be getting a chance to try it out. Must be nice, but some of us have to seek out a different type of value equation for our restaurant experience dollar. Not only that, and maybe its just me, but I just happen to respond emotionally to a more populist culinary point of view. This is not a question of Thomas Keller being one bad mother, shut your mouth, just talkin’ about Chef. So, on the other hand, I still to this day, crave the Brown Butter Sage Gnoch @ Bouchon everytime it gets below 50 degrees. The making of the perfect Egg Sandwhich in the movie Spanglish (which TK consulted on) is my porn. Just give me Chris Bianco’s Pizza (Beard Winner also, for busting out $12 pies, not for Butter Poached Lobster or Foie Gras Torchon, $35 supplement) Give me the Beef Cheek Rav and the Stones @ Babbo, the international tapestry of a Sunday Brunch @ Balthzar, maybe the Roasted Bone Marrow @ Blue Ribbon or the straight forward environment, flawless flavors and clean cooking @ Lucques. Take me home with a big steak @ the Met in Seattle. Hog Island Oysters @ The Ferry Terminal in San Fran seem to make the Earth stand still, the quintessence of time and place. Better yet let’s really feed the Soul. After a long week, give me pasole from Cuquita’s @ 2AM on a Saturday night. Let’s do Fried Quail shot with my Pops. My Stepmother Nancy’s, (of Sour Cream Apple Pie fame), cooking can rock any Chef or “Menu Designer’s” world. (BTW, what are all of those white jackets in my closet? Did I pick up the wrong dry cleaning again? How did they get so stained? I really need to hold on to those tickets.) I want Roasted Dungeness Crabs trapped a few hours before sundown with my Cousins, Aunts and Uncles. And YES, for the love of all things holy, let my eyes roll back in their sockets once in while after the first bite of a Double Double Animal Style. (TK Himself was jockin’ the greatness of In N’ Out on the Dennis Miller Show a few years ago during a live cooking segment. Don’t know if you all saw that). Like TK, I also respect the quality commitment behind one of, if not the most loved cult brands in the entire food world. Sorry East Coast haters but it’s true. In N’ Out still bones their meat out by hand for crying out loud. Talk about keeping it real and not selling out. Some burger “chain”. The point is, a zealous commitment to material and method is not the exclusive right of the Culinary Elite, Ultra Luxe Restaurants, or people with a wallet the size of Mitt Romney’s. Not only that, sometimes in the case of In N’ Out, you can hold perfection in your hand for just a couple of bucks. By the way I can’t wait to try Thomas Keller’s Fried Chicken @ Ad Hoc. I hear it’s melt your face good. Wonder if it will hook me as deeply as my Great Grandma’s? Anyway, it sure is inspiring to see that even one of the greatest Chefs in the World likes to cook something for everyone once in a while. I’ll bet he even craves a down and dirty burger after a long day of cooking Foie Gras and Truffles. Sounds like my kinda guy.
being a chef myself i say, well put.