Chef Interview: Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Jean-Georges Vongerichten is late. As I wait in JG Dining Room and JG Kitchen for the chef whose restaurant in New York has won three Michelin stars consistently for 10 years now, I reflect on the Alsatian chef’s influence on the global culinary scene.

And 10 years ago, New York Magazine said this about Vongerichten, which holds true even today: “It’s probably safe to say that in the past two decades, no single chef has had more influence on the way New Yorkers dine out — or on the way other chefs cook and other restaurants look.”

It’s this influence Vongerichten no doubt was keen to bring to the Middle East with the opening of his first location in the UAE at the new hotel on the block, Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach’s Restaurant Village.

Vongerichten’s name is against Market by Jean–Georges in Abu Dhabi and Doha; however, these are through consultative partnerships with Culinary Concepts Hospitality Group (CCHG) out of New York City.

With direct involvement from Vongerichten, JG Dining Room and JG Kitchen opened in June 2015, designed as two distinct spaces under one roof — the former a fine dining venue and the latter a more casual all–day restaurant. These two areas are connected by a lounge and bar.

When Vongerichten arrives, you realise it immediately. Now 58 years old, he looks many years younger and commands a high level of respect amongst the team, who all snap to attention when he walks in.

And he cannot apologise enough for the delay — Sundays, he says, are locked firmly in his mind as a holiday.

Vongerichten partnered with UAE–based Ginza Fine Dining (GFD) Group for the Dubai project, and one of the partners was a long-time customer of the Michelin–starred chef who suggested the move to Dubai. Once a location was found, Vongerichten was hooked.

“Knowing that Nusret and Coya are also here, I think we’re in good company at the first Four Seasons in Dubai.

“I couldn’t do a restaurant if I don’t have a local partner who could really manage it,” Vongerichten says. And so the professional relationship was born. Continuing on the theme of the people he works with, Vongerichten reveals he has forged long–term relationships with many people in the industry whom he works with regularly.

One of them is Sumeet Jhingan, who leads GFD Group’s operations, and was also part of the Jean–Georges New York team prior to moving Dubai. In addition, Vongerichten’s long-time partner in the bakery sector is Magnus Hansson, who flew down to Dubai for the opening. His son, Cedric Vongerichten, also a chef, was present too. Also a part of the project was French designer Gwenael Nicolas, who lives in Japan and has worked with Vongerichten before.

DESIGN FOCUS

Expressing his interest in interior design, he says: “Many restaurant designers do cookie cutter designs, you see the same chairs in different places. Nicolas’ approach was a little different.”

With wood, stone and white shells present through the interiors, the restaurant showcases an exhibition–style open kitchen and a contemporary chandelier of flowing white fabric, created by Japanese fabric artist, Reiko Sudoh.

The lounge and bar area have an eye–catching mirror installation above the workstation, which is positioned in such a way that it’s the first thing guests see when they enter the restaurant.

Vongerichten continues: “There are so many different areas here; we wanted it to mimic what we have in Jean–Georges New York a little bit. Sometimes when you go to a fine dining room, you feel like it’s too serious.”

In his Dubai venue — which he confirms is similar to the set–up in New York — he says the design is meant to put diners at ease. “Fine dining today is a bit different than it was 20 years ago,” he explains.

It’s clear the design was important to him. “I’ve enjoyed working with Nicolas before. Last time we came here, we picked up all the stone here. Food and design are very similar, it’s all about textures, layers, colours.

“We’re working with a friend of mine who’s a lighting designer, Hervé Descottes. I’ve been working with him for about 20 years now. He lit the Mona Lisa when he was a 21–year–old… and it’s still lit by him.”

When asked why he emphasises so much on this element of F&B, he responds: “People have to look good, and feel good. It’s so busy in the world, that I think a restaurant is only one of the few last pleasures where people spend time together.

“Lighting is important. Whatever you touch is important, and of course, whatever you eat here has to be important.”

Citing the lights in the restaurant as well as the natural stone as his favourite design features, he explains: “It’s very natural, I like that. I don’t like fake things.”

FLAVOUR PROFILE

Heading his culinary team in Dubai is probably one of the most natural and down–to–earth people in the regional industry, Colin Clague, who arrives at JG Dubai from his previous role at Arabesque restaurant Qbara.

Vongerichten explains that Clague runs both teams, with Geoffroy van Hasbroeck the sous chef, who has arrived from New York, and the chef for JG Dining Room, Daniel Everts, from Sweden. “They all came to New York and trained with us for four months. We want them to express themselves as well, but to start the restaurant we want them to get the right flavours.

“For example, here you get different chickens from the ones in New York — some are from France, some are local. At the end, the flavour profile has to be the same because a restaurant is all about consistency.

“If guests like a dish, they want to come back and sample it. That’s the most difficult part about restaurants: it’s not only about creating the dish but being consistent. Otherwise people say: ‘Oh this place is going down, it’s not the same’.”

He smiles and adds: “My role is to create cravings so that you come back.”

Stressing the importance of choosing the right people to trust, Vongerichten says he’s in constant contact with the team on the ground even from New York through Skype, and adds that it’s important for him to visit regularly to ensure everything is running smoothly.

Vongerichten breaks off to snap a photo of my notes in shorthand and continues: “People are very sophisticated in this town, in terms of their eating habits, and the different things they want to eat. And it suits our food. I spent five years in Asia so I used a lot of spices. I feel we blend right in with our flavours. My background is French, and my travel is my inspiration. The five years I spent in Asia — Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan — really helped me to start blending things when I went to New York.”

He is quick to say his cuisine is not international, but global. And it’s not just him forcing his style on the region, but he’s keen to learn from it as well. In JG Dubai, the menu already has local twists of its own, no doubt ably supported by Clague’s experience with elevating regional cuisine to a new level in his prior role. Vongerichten himself reveals: “After Colin took me to Qbara, and I saw the menu… now I trust him with my spices even more so.”

For example, JG Dubai has a white bean hummus, an Italian bean dip with sumac as a garnish, while Vongerichten’s self–admitted favourite spice, za’atar, is used for the squab dish with smashed peas and vinaigrette.

“Coming here, it’s about bringing a new concept but also bringing back some expression to New York. So I really want to bring back the Middle Eastern flavour to New York. I think people there will have a taste for it,” he says.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Vongerichten is currently working on a new project in New York, something he’s never tried: a vegetarian restaurant. “I’ve never done that before, I’m going back to school now! I’m working with two nutritionists. I’ve been cooking for 42 years now but I left school when I was 16. I learned how to cook, but I didn’t know the scientific part of doing so.”

Not many may realise, but Vongerichten has not been formally trained in the culinary arts; rather, he picked up all his knowledge and skills through apprenticeships, with the likes of Paul Bocuse and Paul Haeberlin. Confessing he was “bad at school”, Vongerichten says when he was 16, his parents took him to a fine dining restaurant, three-star Auberge de l’Ill, and he “fell in love with it right away”.

He says: “I realised, ‘this is me’. I grew up with good food but I didn’t have an interest in it, but I didn’t know you could make a living out of food. It was 1973, and people only went to restaurants for an occasion. Today they eat at home for an occasion! At the time, my father asked if I really wanted to be a cook; it was at the bottom [of the job ladder]. And today it’s one of the most glamourous jobs.”

“If you find your passion, you jump into it. I still wake up in the morning and run for work… after 42 years. I love that every day is different. It could be a total disaster tonight, but tomorrow we erase everything and start from scratch. You can reinvent yourself every single day. I love that.”

His advice for young chefs is to find that passion and work hard. “For people to stand 14 hours a day, at the end you’re here to please people. It’s many hours, and lots of hard work, but you get so much satisfaction.” Referring to feedback, not only from guests but his own, he says he eats his own food so it has to be perfect. “A lot of chefs taste but they don’t eat. The only way to see if a dish is well–balanced is to eat it from A–Z. I want the first spoon to be as exciting as the last one. If after two spoons, you push the plate away, that means the dish is missing something.”

What else is left for Vongerichten to do? Hotels, he says. “That’s my dream. We’re in the entertainment business, where you capture people’s attention for three hours, but when people stay over… it’s a bigger experience that you can give them. I enjoy working on details, and the more I go to hotels, the more I travel, the more I am inspired to do these things. And then I will be complete.”