In New York, far from France, chef Gabriel Kreuther, promotes Alsatian culture between Rhineland spirit and French finesse.

No one is a prophet in his own country, says the adage. In Paris, few know about it and yet chef Gabriel Kreuther 's eponymous restaurant is an institution in New York. Located in the heart of Manhattan, between 5th and 6th avenues, at the foot of an elegant and slender tower built by Gordon Bunshaft in 1974, the establishment ranks among the world's haute cuisine. Double-starred in the Michelin guide , winner of the James Beard prize, member of the Grandes tables du monde as well as the Relais & Châteaux network, the Alsatian has kept the edge of his accent and the frankness of voluntary exiles. If Alsatian haute cuisine reaches the heights in its region, Gabriel Kreuther leads it to be recognized far from its bases following other great Alsatians like Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Recently, a chocolate factory , Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate , has joined the Bas-Rhinois gourmet family. Awarded by the famous Eater site which ranks it among the best addresses in the United States, it has done better than resist the pandemic by developing distance selling . 100% American spirit interview!

How is life in New York today?

We reopened on September 15. And I must say that in our misfortune, we were lucky, we managed to make a nice little terrace and — even when everything was closed — we managed to maintain the chocolate factory with an online production and sales activity .

Is it profitable to open like this?

There are costs of course! But we decided to do something. It is first of all profitable on a human level because we continue to exist, to fight, to defend our cuisine and our know-how. Next, a restaurant must “turn.” Like a car. If you leave your car in the garage for 6 months, there is a chance that it will not restart properly. The low activity made it possible to maintain, clean and maintain know-how and equipment. Deterioration is also in the total shutdown of machines. The chocolate factory allowed us to keep the machine and the kitchen running. The guys wanted to sell the chocolate, to continue. There were three of them even in the most difficult times. I made sure that this was in the best sanitary conditions. It helped keep the place alive.

And what about other skills?

Assembling a team, training it, is a work of several years, the work of a lifetime. I had over a hundred people and overnight I had to let them go. It hurts. Seeing everyone leave is terrible. But that's what we had to do. There was no other solution. New York is not France, there is no real partial unemployment. When we received the obligation to close, the safest thing for our employees was to be made redundant to qualify for the aid put in place by the State.

Have you managed to keep some essential elements of your restaurant?

Unfortunately many members of the team have returned to their families or their countries. When we decided to call them back for the September opening, some were in Singapore, Europe or another US state. It’s a total waste of know-how! I tried everything to keep the pillars of our restaurant but on a team of more than a hundred people you can only do it with a dozen people.

What help is available to you?

This is the big difference compared to France: we are left to our own devices. We had a little help but it was slow in coming. Afterwards there may be a negotiation with the building for our rents. Some buildings agree to support restaurateurs, more or less, others do not.

What is your vision for the near future in the United States?

I'm rather optimistic. Things will get better very quickly. The federal government invested very early in the vaccine, they provided the financial, technical and logistical resources. It works very well. The epidemic in New York was violent. We remember the refrigerated trucks and the temporary cemeteries, the violent hospital crisis. The American response is up to the task of this violent pandemic. Here everyone wants to get out of it and quickly: customers return on weekends, vaccination is in full swing, we have put in place reinforced health procedures and welcome customers both on the terrace and inside. We will get there !

How do you do ?

Sixty people inside and forty outside. We manage to do two services. Everyone rolls up their sleeves. We focus on safety and well-being and thanks to the space we have, it is possible. And it's also possible to bring customers back because we also offer a moment of relaxation in a stressful time. Of course we take the temperature and information of our customers but we are not a hospital. We preferred to put more distance between the tables than to put separators between the tables. With a small team of around fifty people, we are gradually coming back to life.

What is the normal capacity of your establishment?

We normally have 80 seats in the large restaurant and 40 on the bar side. We split that in half inside. The 40-seat outdoor terrace proved essential as soon as we received the authorizations. We fought to get this terrace.

Did you see things coming?

No way. I didn't understand. We heard of course that there was something but when you see around you that nothing is happening, you tell yourself that it's okay. We only realized the severity of the pandemic when the misery of hospitals became visible. There was fear there. And those who could, many of our customers, left while waiting for all this to pass. Even today, some of our customers have not yet returned.

You fought to maintain your activity during these long months. Have you also had time to think about your cooking, your work?

That’s all I did! Even if this work has been a long time for me. I think we're not doing our job well if we don't think about it every day. Feeding is an essential act that must be done consciously, constantly. I have come to the conclusion shared by many colleagues that we must return to the essential, eliminate the superfluous.

What is going back to basics to have fun?

The map already. Do you need 25 dishes to please yourself? Can't we already have a great time with 5 or 6 dishes? Are all the fantasies necessary? The cuisine of great restaurants was in a fashion where technical complexity was an absolute. Is this really what people want? I didn't believe it before. I believe it even less today. This return of the product, which is obvious for those who do their job well, is essential and so much the better. I have always defended it and today with even more vigor: a good meal is more and it is better. We need to stop with these little bites of this and that. People want to eat a good meal and not those little snobbish bites.

There is a widely used word in English to describe this, “satisfying”. It's less used in France...

Yes ! Absolutely. The movement is underway towards these satisfying products and meals. I am not ashamed to also use the concept of comfort food. This movement is done with the search for a traceable, reliable and natural product.

How did you come to reconnect with your native Alsace in New York?

I have been in the United States for 24 years and New York is a vibrant city of a thousand cuisines. If I haven't always looked at my cooking in the same way, my journey has brought me there. I started with the famous Jean-Georges restaurant then I opened the Ritz in Central Park. When I wanted to be self-employed, I knew that the inner process had to be sincere: what was my identity? I naturally returned to my Alsatian origins, to these tastes and flavors. Nobody knew about Alsace here! So to find these flavors and tastes here, I did it myself. Today everyone is talking about lacto-fermentation. I always did! Alsatian cuisine is good for your health! Twenty years ago it was old fashioned to make your own sauerkraut. Now it's the trend. I never followed fashions. I followed my taste and respected the integrity of the products.

How do you find your Alsatian products? Do you import certain things?

We produce everything right here! It’s 0% origin from Alsace! It wouldn't make sense to import bacon, for example. We recreated everything with artisans, small farmers and what we know how to do, we do ourselves. Here, I'm thinking of flour. We work with a mill in Pennsylvania, Castle Valley, which still stone-mills grain. These products are completely natural. We make wonderful pasta and delicious ravioli with this flour. This product is so exceptional that we keep it in the fridge. It also has much less gluten. You have to spend a lot of time finding producers but in New York it's possible. I met a person who almost exclusively supplies me with stewed pigeons. Products like this are fantastic. For the butter, the same, it's raw butter from a very small farm. It is handmade, unpasteurized. Made in New Jersey. The bacon is smoked bacon from New Hampshire! You have to do a lot of research but you can find everything!

What do you think of the “farm to table” trend?

I'm kidding ! Those who discover farm to table today were doing their job poorly yesterday. But we're not going to complain. So much the better. That’s all I’ve ever done and I’ve always cooked with my guts, my convictions, my story. When I make a menu, I cook for myself first. I only eat what I want to eat! And my story is double peasant and Alsatian. My primary conviction is that farmers must be defended! We're talking about a carbon tax but I think we should also tax the agri-food industry - it's also a public health issue - to redistribute to small farmers who do good, don't tamper with the products. And what is valid for the land is valid for the sea. I worked for a long time with a supplier, Dock to dish, who gave us a surprise package once a week and everything is fished using gentle and sustainable techniques.

Where does this attachment to peasant agriculture come from?

I grew up on a farm in the village of Niederschaeffolsheim, a few steps from Haguenau in northern Alsace. At the time there were nearly 80 farms in the area. Today there are only four left. And I grew up in a culture where we killed pigs, where we lived according to the rhythm of the seasons and traditions. And meals! In my family there was everything from farm to table! In my family I had farmers, a butcher, a pastry chef and an uncle who was a restaurateur and hotelier with whom I did my apprenticeship. In 1987, I began to win the regional competition for the best apprentices in France which allowed me to go to Paris where I won the competition for best apprentice in France at the famous Ferrandi school. All the others came from starred restaurants and me from nowhere! I was not a little proud!

What memories do you keep of Paris?

I'll tell you a story: when I arrived in Paris for these competitions, I wanted to go visit the palaces. The Ritz, the Crillon, etc. Everyone refused me entry because I was young and wearing jeans. It's one of the first impressions of Paris. A somewhat snobbish culture. The culture I try to have in my restaurant is the opposite of that. I like the conviviality, that people feel comfortable and can even eat certain pieces with their hands! In short, to have fun, no need for a tie! Going to a restaurant is not going to Church after all!

Could you come back to France now?

No, I do not think so. I love New York. I love the open-mindedness here. Let him do it. Freedom. I very quickly went to taste America and it's a completely different art of living. I have always followed this research which I would not have been able to carry out in the same way in France which has a more snobbish culture: what makes you happy? Is it just the wine, the food or something else? My thesis is that what makes a place a pleasant place is first and foremost the human element. And there is little talk of it in France. If I invite you to my house and you come, it's as if you came to my table: you become part of the family. I am committed as much as you are committed to me. Which allows me to guide you to discover new things! I invite customers to experience their senses and therefore touch food when necessary. Eating a leg of squab by hand is exquisite! Or some shells! And in the United States as in Europe, making your customers eat with their hands is not natural. They have to trust you and they therefore have a very relaxed and fun time. The pleasure here is undoubtedly tinged with this Alsatian good nature that I love.

Can we say that your Alsatian cuisine is a proposition made of regressive pleasures?

Yes, that's exactly it. I like regressive dishes that often come from my childhood. A cuisine that has its feet on the ground and is well made, well executed, brought up to date. Who makes you feel good. A little happier. Which makes you want to lick your lips and come back for more! That's my approach. And it works here! People get caught up in the game. And when they do, the atmosphere is extraordinary. Conviviality, celebration and good humor are there! It's not all very Parisian! It belongs more to Alsatian culture where we spend three to four hours at tables... where we leave the lunch table at dinner time!

What is childhood cooking done well by an Alsatian in New York?

What I like to do is use jars in which I cook calf's trotters with truffles... When the customer opens their jar, we let them do it, it's amazing! This scent is already half the dish. All this goes with a potato or Jerusalem artichoke mousse in the siphon. It's also this crunchy tartlet with a base of sauerkraut in dry white wine, with smoked sturgeon and on top, a Riesling mousse, caviar, with a nice smoke... I think some Alsatians could relate to it. I want to touch the sacrosanct sauerkraut like this but that's what I like: mixing the raw, simplest, poorest products with more sophisticated products. Sturgeon as a fish interests no one, yet it is extraordinary. And it goes perfectly with caviar and is at the same time a snub. That's what I like, contrasts.

Is cooking transgressing?

No, cooking is respecting the living. This is what we have forgotten and it is shocking. We have forgotten that the meat you have in your hands is the result of the sacrifice of an animal. And this animal must be respected. It starts with using all the product. To cook it well. To love preparing it. We need to stop only cooking beef fillet! And as for slaughtering, it must be done humanely. I grew up like that and I continue like that. I have a very small trout supplier. This fish farm has been in the same family for 70 years. They are the ones who slaughter the trout by hand. This obliges us: the product must be honored, by the cook as well as by the customer. Too many products have been overused. Premium, no one knows what that means anymore. We must return to simple things, on a man's scale, on a family scale. Cooking for each other.

Don’t chefs necessarily cook for others?

Oh no. There was madness before this pandemic. Some chefs cooked first to impress other chefs.

Seen from the United States, is there reason to worry about the vegan movement?

Veganism is a fad. There is also a trend towards allergies. Some are completely real, let's be clear. But often, as a cooking practitioner, I was able to observe that certain allergies were also a somewhat chic pretext to avoid saying “I don't like that”, which is everyone's strict right, of course. One day, a customer told me that he was vegan. His friends eat foie gras. Once everyone was served, he asked me what it was and asked to eat the same thing as them… and I assure you, he found it very good! Then there is a category of customers who decide that on this or that day they eat vegan. It's as old as time. This was all driven by bad press. I don't think there is reason to worry but rather to be wary of these modes.

What do you think about meat alternatives? Whether it is so-called “plant-based” meat or cellular meat?

I am very skeptical of plant-based meat. When we know how soy is made and handled, it wouldn't surprise me if it's not very healthy for humans. We will know in twenty years. On the other hand, I am also clear, on the meat side, there have been very serious abuses for a long time. Trafficked and transgenic animals are not good either. You need healthy. No one needs to eat 600g of steak a day. And it's the same for fish. So as for cellular meat... remember that the industrial lobbies who push these things wouldn't eat their product for anything in the world. And wouldn't give it to their children. Bill Gates, his kids are not on the computer or cell phone. These people are not crazy. They know very well the damage their technologies can cause. Science allows you to discover things, but be careful of the consequences on public health. For them it's just business. If I offer you something at the table, not only have I produced it myself but I eat it too!

What is ethical meat?

I think we need to repeat that: the important thing is in the measure, in the human. Animals must be raised humanely. They must be killed as humanely as possible. Honor them. That’s ethical meat. I've always done that.

How did you manage to explain to Americans what Alsace is?

It is very simple. In New York we are at the crossroads of all the cultures of the world so fusion cuisine is very well known. Fusion cuisine between Asian cuisine and Western cuisine for example. So I explain to them that it’s the same thing. Alsatian cuisine is a fusion cuisine between the robustness and comfort of German cuisine, let's say heir to the Holy Roman Empire, with its Hungarian, Austrian variants, from a Europe of the Danube, to Switzerland, with the finesse and the technical refinement of French cuisine. The origins of my Alsatian comfort food are in this fusion and this balance!

What are your childhood flavors?

I would say the tarte flambée. We had a wood oven at home to cook them. And then obviously, sauerkraut, stuffed cabbage. The squab too since we had squabs on the farm. The whole pig… Freshwater fish like trout. Duck. I used this flavor in my restaurant. The duck is aged, matured for two weeks, then smoked with hay. This is exceptional. My dishes are connected to the tastes of my childhood and modernized.

And your favorite products today?

I don't know if I have any favorite products but I of course like good things, foie gras, good turbot, a nice lobster, truffles, white or black. We dream of these products when we grew up on a farm. They always make me dream. And I like to combine them with simple flavors that touch me, which are those of my childhood.

Who are the other people who helped to make Alsatian cuisine known across the Atlantic?

Anthony Bourdain for example. He was a person who didn't care about artifice and only sought the truth.

What is your next challenge?

Today and tomorrow already! But more seriously, a cookbook started three years ago. It will be about Alsace, farm cuisine, its heritage in my cuisine today.

A wine from Alsace?

The wines of Pierre Trimbach. A Saint-Hune enclosure. Anthological. Or a Pinot Gris or a Gewurztraminer selection of noble grains. And otherwise, for the rest, I am a very big fan of Bordeaux!

What is the highest compliment you have received for your cooking in New York?

Ah! I am thinking of Antoine Westermann, a world-famous three-star Alsatian chef. He tasted my sauerkraut and complimented me on it. A compliment like that, received in New York, far from the Alsatian region, is obviously very pleasing.

What is your secret to making these seemingly simple dishes like sauerkraut?

I learned from the elders the most important thing: why do things. They passed on to me the knowledge of each gesture, each step. Why each step is essential. Young people often want to take shortcuts, to go faster. When you know why, you don't skip steps. The taste for truth is also about time and transmission. I am very happy to see that the young people I have in my restaurant are attached to these gestures, to this knowledge and listen a lot. They are hungry for this knowledge! Then memory is the taste database. It's intangible and yet it's there. It's an education. I believe in initiation, I believe in the family unit which transmits a taste for good things, which sets standards for life. There is a form of learning. It is absolutely necessary that mealtime remains a sacred moment. We can be worried when we observe that this is no longer taken together or with screens that break up this moment.

Who transmitted these tastes to you?

My family and my peers. I always get emotional when I think about it. In the middle of my apprenticeship, my uncle made me taste a Hospice de Beaune from 1951. “Taste because it’s great”. Even today I remember the taste. It sparked a passion, a desire to know wine in order to appreciate it even better. It sets standards. Later, Eckart Witzigmann, a three-star chef, one of the greatest, introduced me to Rochelt Tyrolean brandy. It's just fruit. I have an amazing Williams pear. I fought to get it imported. And it’s extraordinary!

We'll have to let you taste the Fougerolles AOC farm Kirsch from the Chassard farm!

(Laughs) With pleasure! These products must be preserved at all costs. I have wonderful memories of distilling in the village. We put a whole pork shoulder tied up in the first cooking of the fruit. It cooked in it, yes, with the fruit, in the vat! Once it was finished, presto, we removed the piece by the string. It was extraordinary. These are much more than traditions.

A reason for hope for the future?

The youth ! This new generation is looking for a reason for being and wants to make a difference, to know the truth, to get back to basics. And they don't discuss, they don't compromise. They are, as they say in the United States, “my way
or the high way”, it’s that or nothing. And I find that wonderful. It's a beautiful energy.

Gabriel Kreuther's good addresses

Butter

“Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse in New Jersey. They make great butter.”

Pork

"I choose Berkshire Heritage Pork. I buy it through D'Artagnan."

Foie gras

“For 20 years, direct from Belle Farm in Ferndale, New York.”

Duck

"I choose a Crescent Duck from Long Island via D'Artagnan. I mature it two weeks before smoking it."

Trout

"Live from Green Walk Hatchery in Bangor, Pennsylvania."

Flour

"Castle Valley Mill. Amazing place and product."

Fish

"Dock to dish! Obviously. Well-caught New York fish!"

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