Passing the torch

Standing in the verdant and manicured courtyard of the renowned Yountville, California, restaurant The French Laundry, one can feel the melding of the past and present. The original building was constructed as a saloon in 1896, converted to a French steam laundry in 1920 (thus the name), and transformed by Sally and Donald Schmitt into a fine dining establishment in 1978.

Since 1994, the Chef and Owner of The French Laundry has been Thomas Keller, the first and only American-born chef to hold multiple three-star ratings from the prestigious Michelin Guide. Under his leadership, a sleek white and glass kitchen annex was added between 2014 and 2017, with contemporary adjunct buildings connected via walkways. Thus, the old and new are seamlessly intermingled, and you sense the conversation between generations. 

For Keller, whose accolades and accomplishments are innumerable, this pull of history and vision for the future is at the forefront of his mind. “The Schmitts are the ones who created the foundation for this restaurant,” he says. “They were the first generation, and I am the second, and my purpose at The French Laundry is to pass it on to the third generation whenever the time is right.”

Keller decided to make cooking his profession in 1977, just one year before The French Laundry originally opened. He participated in an extraordinary progression in American culinary culture. “We went from the backwoods to garnering a reputation around the world,” says Keller, “not just for great restaurants, not just for great chefs, but for the farmers, fishermen, foragers, and gardeners. You can simply go into a grocery store to realize the evolution of food in our country. All that came from chefs and their interests and endeavors.” 

Knowing he has been part of a seminal movement has allowed Keller to imagine what comes next. “Once you’ve had your own successful restaurant with a great team, you start to think about your exit strategy,” says Keller. “Retirement is always there in your mind, but for me and others in my generation, it might seem more difficult.” He ponders, for example, what it would mean to have a Thomas Keller restaurant when he is no longer in the kitchen.

The answer is to support younger chefs and innovative ideas. Keller says he feels very blessed and fortunate to have his own restaurants and to have put together a team that executes at a very high level with elevated standards. “As you mature in your career and your profession and position, you become liberated to think about other things,” he says. “You want to make sure that there is something after you that continues, but it’s not about legacy. It is really about the individuals that are involved in the work.” He stresses that this means the team in the dining room and the kitchen, the food producers, the guests, and the broader community. “It’s Napa Valley, it's California, the United States, and the world,” he says. He explains that The French Laundry has become one of the restaurants that people want to be a part of. The community embraces it; people want to dine here, and chefs like to apprentice here. 

For Keller, instructing young chefs is a responsibility he takes seriously. “You are helping somebody achieve their personal and professional goals. We want to make sure that they understand the broad scope of what it is to be mentored, and the purpose of it is to make them a better person, a better professional, and a leader for the next generation as well.” 

One of his most impactful mentoring programs began almost by accident. Keller’s friend and inspiration, Chef Paul Bocuse, created the Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition in 1987 to broaden the public’s understanding of the extraordinary dedication, hard work, practice, and precision required to execute the finest cuisine. “Paul, a die-hard fan and patriot of the United States, wanted America to do better in the Bocuse d’Or,” says Keller. “He saw that there was no unified national support for the US team, so he called his son Jerome, who reached out to my close friend Chef Daniel Boulud, and the next thing you know, I was president of the US team.”

Guiding the American team (and eventually reaching the Bocuse d’Or podium and winning gold) led to creating Ment’or. The nonprofit organization inspires culinary excellence, preserves American culinary traditions, and builds a sustainable community of young, knowledgeable, and confident culinary professionals.

“We want the mentees to become life-long ambassadors of quality and excellence in gastronomy,” says Keller. The organization is committed to helping develop meaningful and successful careers for dedicated young chefs by providing educational opportunities, internships, and access to a distinguished Culinary Council of mentors.

“The structure moving forward is to increase our reach,” says Keller, “so we have grant programs now, and three different sets of competitions to help younger people discover if they’re interested in competing in the Bocuse d’Or as part of the US Team. It’s like Triple-A teams in baseball,” he adds.

In addition to his leading role with Ment’or, Keller also served as an Honorary President of Judges for The Roux Scholarship, another prestigious culinary competition. The concept of mentor and mentee resonates with Keller on both professional and personal levels.

“I would say that I had three important mentors who stayed with me, and each one of them had a significant impact on my life,” says Keller. “My passion came from my mother first because she gave me my sense of urgency, my awareness of detail, and my work ethic. She didn’t teach me how to cook precisely, but she inspired me to be thorough and to do better every day.” Keller’s brother Joseph, also a chef, was his second mentor, and Chef Roland Henin, an American certified Master Chef, was Keller’s third inspiration. “In 1977, when I was barely 21, Roland asked me this simple question: why do cooks cook?” says Keller. “I’d been cooking for two and half years and doing it quite well but never anticipating it to be my career. I fumbled with my answer, so he said, ‘We cook to nurture people.’”

The word nurture is what ignited the desire and commitment in Keller. “To be a chef wasn’t about cooking; it was about nurturing people, and there’s no better way of nurturing people than to feed them.” This guiding principle has remained with Keller throughout his career—through the awards and honors, the fame and notoriety. “I know my brother’s always there for me, my mother’s legacy resonates with me, and Roland is mentoring me still.” 

Sharing this passion for nurturing people through food propels Keller forward. “These relationships come in and out of your life. There is a mentee and mentor at any moment, and you’ve been affected in ways you don’t even realize.” Keller receives letters and notes from former staff members who tell him that working with him has changed their lives. “I see young people as committed as I was when I was their age. They are dedicated and not afraid of hard work, of being challenged, of failures,” he says. “It’s my goal to give them something they can take with them.”

What is clear is that being a multi-generational restaurant in America and part of an enormous culinary story matters most to him. “We as a profession are so much more far-reaching than anybody realizes. The people working here, the farmers, fishermen, foragers, and gardeners, the guests—everyone takes a little piece of that with them forever.”

Keller says he doesn’t know what exactly is next for him, but one thing he is sure of is that the path to success of any kind is never to stop asking questions. “Even if you can’t figure it out today, that is the process,” he says. “I’m very excited as I continue down this path.”