Eric Ripert

[upbeat music] Welcome to Office Of, a clubhouse for sharp takes on confidence, drive, and being a solid man. This is a place for unfiltered stories, questions get answered, and new ones get asked with some of today's most fascinating guys. This is your space, your story, your rules. Come on in. The door is open. Today's guest is somebody who redefines what mastery looks like, not just in the kitchen, but in how he moves throughout the world. Eric Ripert is the chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin, located in the heart of New York City, and widely considered one of the most iconic and respected restaurants on the planet. Originally opened doors in Paris in 1972, followed by New York in 1986, and Le Bernardin has held three Michelin stars and a constant place at the top of the culinary world for nearly four decades, which is pretty damn cool.

But beyond the accolades, the stars, and the global recognition, there's a man that is deeply grounded in purpose and presence and personal evolution. He's built a life around refinement and restraint, yet your story is really one of bold choices, deep friendships, spiritual curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to craft. This conversation, it's more than just food. It's about growth, identity, and showing up fully. Welcome to the Office of Eric Ripert, Eric Ripert. Good afternoon. I'm very happy to have you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm very happy to be here too. So we stole you from work. We got you in the middle of the day. Yes. I'm 10 minutes away from you guys, so it's fine. Is it easy to get out of the kitchen? It's easy at this time. Yeah. Lunchtime, it's, you know, 12, 1:00, 2:00, still busy.

Yeah. After that, it's fine. I wanna start from the beginning, and then I wanna sort of get into what you're working on now. It's very interesting to me, at 15, you left home to attend culinary school. What drew you to the kitchen so early, and why so young? Many reasons. So we're gonna start with the beginning. Okay. I grew up with a grandmother that was from Italy- Mm-hmm ... and another one from Provence. On the weekends, my parents were divorced, and my mother was passionate about nouvelle cuisine and luxury dining, fine dining. So on the weekends, I was eating soul food from grandma's, and during the week, my mother was creating those elaborate meals with appetizer, main course, cheese, and dessert every day, different recipes, of course, and so on, and she had a huge influence on me.

And then because I was loving to watch them in the kitchen and I was loving their food, I started to wanna cook in the kitchen. And finally, when I was 10, 11 years old, they let me finally touch something in the kitchen. Before, they thought I would be too messy. [laughs] And I was so passionate by fine dining and what was the chefs were doing at that time. Instead of studying my mathematics or geography or whatever, I was reading cookbooks at night. Mm-hmm. And guess what happened? The day after you get a zero out of 20- [laughs] ... or a, a, a C minus or D- Yeah ... or F potentially. [laughs] And at 15, I couldn't go further in school except go to a vocational school.

So you weren't a very good student. I was a very bad student. But is, is that because you didn't care? Is that because you weren't interested? Is that because there was a world around you that you wanted to explore? I was very selective. [laughs] I decided that English was not for me. Yeah. I decided that mathematics were not for me, and I liked French a lot, so I was studying whatever I wanted. And again, my, my notes were really poor, and the principal, when I was 15, asked me to come to the office and said to my mom, "He has to find something to do." And I was delighted because I wanted to do cooking and go to culinary school. You knew that's what you wanted to do. Yes. I wanted to be the chef that I am today, absolutely, at 15 years old. And when I say the chef that I am today, I'm not speaking about the rewards and, and anything like that.

I'm speaking about having the possibility to do great food with an amazing team surrounding you, with the luxury of all the equipment in the kitchen, with a beautiful dining room and everything else. So that was my vision at 15. You're 15 years old- Yep ... and then you have this vision that you want to go to culinary school and be a chef, and now many years later, you've fulfilled a dream of yours. Have you recognized that you are actually living a dream of yours? I recognize that every day. I'm grateful every day when I wake up. Every morning, I am grateful for many things: to be healthy, to have food, to have the luxury that I have, which is hot water, cold water, when you think that most of the planet doesn't.

Yeah. And then I'm progressing, and finally, I'm grateful for the career that I have and to live the dream. When you look back at yourself at 15, and I wanna talk a little bit about culinary school, were you running away from something? Well, first of all, I was not very happy at home- Okay ... because my mother was remarried. I didn't like my stepfather. Okay. He didn't like me either. It was a war at home. [laughs] But I could handle it. However, I was happy to get out and really move from the house and go and study cooking and being a waiter at the same time and learning a lot about the industry because in school you have those programs that include everything. It's not just cooking. Yeah. I recently read somewhere that your grandmother's apple tart- Yes ...

is incredibly significant to you. Yes. Why? Because when I was with her, she was making that apple tart every day. The apple tart was ready by four o'clock on afternoon. Every day? Every day. It was like a 12-inch apple tart. Yeah. Pretty thin, but amazing. And every day, I would eat the entire apple tart.[laughs] And, uh, I remember like an hour before, I would start to smell the dough and the apples, and then I would smell the apple and the caramel in the oven, and then I would smell the warm tart getting colder before we, we can eat it. And then I was going at it, and that was, for me, like an amazing reward, and I could feel the love of my grandmother in that apple tart.

Mm-hmm. I could f- feel it and taste it, and I always said that you can put love into the food. Actually, if we really extrapolate, we can prove the point using quantum physics- Mm-hmm ... theories, but we're not gonna go there. [laughs] [laughs] But I believe also the story of that movie, Water for Chocolate. Yeah. Yeah. You can put good emotions, bad emotions. I could feel the love. You can buy a beautiful apple tart in a pastry store or in, in a market and so on, and it will never taste the same because it doesn't have the love that Grandma was putting in it. In some ways, does it feel like the food that you create all goes back to that childhood experience of feeling the love through food that you wanna give to other people?

It's complicated. Yeah. We are at a restaurant. Yeah. It's different than cooking at home. Yeah. So when I cook at home, I am totally in the process of feeding my family- Mm-hmm ... and I put the love in the process. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. At the restaurant, we're serving a lot of people at the same time. Yeah. I delegate a lot. Yeah. I'm surrounded with passionate people who love what they, what they are doing. I love what I'm doing as well. We want people to be happy when they, they leave the restaurant, to have a special experience, especially great food- Yeah ... since I am in a kitchen. Yeah. So we do the best we can, but it's not the same as cooking for the family. I understand. And then going back to culinary school, you obviously learned skills.

You learned how to cook. I guess I wanna know what life skills you learned in culinary school. Was it precision? Was it how to maintain balance in a chaotic environment? Was it attention to detail? Like, there must be, like, macro level experiences that you learned in culinary school. So in culinary school you learn a lot because nobody's born with knife skills. [laughs] Nobody's born knowing how to make sauce- Right ... or how to roast a duck or something. Right. Like, all those techniques- Yeah ... you, you learn there. Yeah. And it's very humbling because you are in an environment that is not necessarily friendly. Mm-hmm. It's kind of hot and humid- Mm-hmm ... and wet, uh, on the floor, and sharp objects, and you can burn yourself easily, and you learn all those things by making mistakes.

So you're very, very humbled on the front of the stove when it's time for you to cook and, and duplicate what the teacher said. Yeah. And when you are being watched, and you're not very secure about it. So that teach you that, of course, you do your best, so you learn the details. I think the best experience in culinary school was to go in training in a restaurant for the summer. Which you did. Which I did for- Yeah ... for two months. Mm-hmm. It was called Le Sardinal. The owner was playing, uh, sax in the dining room. [laughs] The chef was extremely moody, borderline violent, and we were very scared of him. [laughs] He was also obese with...

I could run much faster than him. There you go. And that saved me. Yeah. But that was an experience that taught you how to survive. Mm-hmm. And taught you really testing your limits. Do you really love cooking or you're not sure? Because when I went to that restaurant, my bed was very narrow. It was like, you know when you go in camping and you have those narrow beds? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what you call them in English. Yeah. I was in between the door and the wall- Yeah ... sharing the room with the maitre d' that was coming back every night drunk and throwing up in his bed. Um- [laughs] Fun experience for you. So that was something. [laughs] And then I was going to the kitchen, and that chef was very abusive, like I said, and throwing pots and pans at us and screaming at us.

Also, we were working 16 hours a day, no day off, because it's the summer, it's a small restaurant. They make their money in the summer. You really question yourself. Mm-hmm. Am I really in the right world? Am I in... really living the dream? And the more challenged I was, the most difficult it was, the more I was passionate about succeeding and doing it. So your love for the craft never wavered? In this internship, did it solidify your love of what you do? Totally. It did. Totally solidified the love for what, what, uh, I wanted to do, which was cooking. Mm-hmm. Yes. Have you worked all jobs in restaurants, like from- Yes ... the very top to the very bottom? Yes. What do you think is one of the hardest jobs in a restaurant that might go unnoticed?

The people in charge of cleaning. Yeah. The dishwasher, the stewards. Mm-hmm. It's not very rewarded usually. Mm-hmm. And it's very physical. It's not pleasant. Mm-hmm. It's long hours. It's challenging. So those jobs are the most challenging ones in a, in a restaurant, and I admire all of them, and I know... At Le Bernardin, I know them by name, and I know their life, and I know their challenges, and we try to be as kind as we can and respect you, and help them when they need help and so on. I'm sure it goes a really long way. Especially some of those jobs that don't get as much praise or recognition. When other people take notice, it, it feels really... I'm sure it feels really damn good for them. For sure, and I speak Spanish fluently.

Most of them... Well, 99% of them speak Spanish. Actually, 100% of them. [laughs]... Spanish. But I make sure that when we get recognition, when we get a good article, and when I'm complimenting the staff, I bring them and I say thank you to them first, and mention to the staff how important is their job. Because we need clean plates when we need them and the right quantities and clean pots and a clean kitchen, and they're always there for us. Who do you view as somebody in your life who, whether it's a role model or not, who you recognize as somebody who you wanted to copy in terms of how you run a business? Because it's a business too, it's- Of course ...

it's your passion, but it's your business. Yes. Do you have any role models growing up? I joined Le Bernardin in 1991. Right. And at that time, Gilbert Le Coze was the founder with his sister, Maguy Le Coze, and the owner and the chef of- Mm-hmm ... Le Bernardin. And he hired me because he said, "I need some young blood in my kitchen. I give you total freedom to be creative, because I wanna manage the team in a different way. I wanna potentially develop the name and open other restaurants." And he said, "You know, I'm, I'm done with cooking so much. I'm involved with the kitchen, and I'll, I will support you, but it's your turn." And he taught me a lot about managing people. Mm-hmm. And he taught me a little bit about the business- Mm-hmm ...

aspect, the numbers. Mm-hmm. But not so much, I learn later on. Mm-hmm. In terms of a role model, for cooking, I have to say Joël Robuchon was the best mentor that I had, and one of the best chef in the world by far. Now, in terms of managing the way we manage, Gilbert Le Coze, again, taught me how to understand numbers and, and deal with the staff, but I created my own way of managing. I didn't really look after someone because my generation has seen a lot of abuse in kitchen. Mm-hmm. It was not such a thing as respecting the staff and not having tantrums, and we were glorifying anger, and the chef was a little dictator.

So I didn't have the opportunity or didn't know any chef that was managing his kitchen in a kind way, in a compassionate way, which mean that you still have to achieve excellence. Mm-hmm. And sometimes you have to take some tough decisions. Mm-hmm. But you have to be fair and respectful. Was the kitchen environment back in the day quite abusive? Totally. How did that fly? How did people get away with that? Because it was part of the mentality at the time. Yeah. And in some countries, st- it's still like that. It's still a lot of, of abuse. I remember being punched in the shoulders, kicked in the butt, being insulted all day long by my superiors, by the sous chefs, by the chef.

Mm-hmm. You were never receiving a compliment. You were always kind of, like, diminished, and it's not a good feeling, of course. I think sometimes that can make people work harder. Not for me. I mean, I've been in professional- [laughs] ... environments like that where it's the complete opposite. I sort of lose myself. I become wickedly insecure. I lose all confidence. But some people think it's a great way to manage their team, and I, I just can never understand how people think it's okay. Well, it's not okay. Right. [laughs] I mean, again, being angry is a weakness. Mm-hmm. It's not- Mm-hmm ... a, a quality. Mm-hmm. And abusing people is not something that, again, is the right thing to do. Mm-hmm. I believe everybody likes to be treated with respect, and therefore, we should treat others with the same respect that we like to, to receive.

Mm-hmm. You're a spiritual guy, aren't you? I am spiritual, yes. I think so. You're a Buddhist. I am a Buddhist. So for me, Buddhism has been a great way of improving- Yeah ... in my life. Mm-hmm. But it... I could be, uh, Jewish, I could be Christian- Mm-hmm ... Muslim, Hindu. Mm-hmm. It doesn't matter, but Buddhism was for me the, the right language, the right teaching that I understood, and it was a logic approach to things that happened in life. Yeah. And I started to study Buddhism in the beginning of the 2000s, late '90s, seriously. Before that, I was interested but not understanding very well. Today, I practice every day.

You do? Yeah. Every, every morning, I wake up at 6:00. I do my meditation. I do some, uh, teaching. I have some rituals. Once a week, I have the luck to have a, a dear friend who's a monk. He's a Nepali and Tibetan, and, uh, he's teaching me every Thursday on the morning for an hour and a half, two hours, and we study text, and we study many other things. And he has a huge positive impact. The Dalai Lama is one of my greatest teacher, but it's not like you call the Dalai Lama every five minutes and [laughs] and have access to him. [laughs] Uh, today I have many teachers that had a huge impact on me, and again, Geshe Tashi, my dear friend and master.

Has it impacted how you operate in your day-to-day? Yes, he has a huge impact, of course. Because I see things differently. I have a different vision of life. I have a different understanding of my personality. Mm-hmm. I have a different of... way of seeing things. It's kind of like a two-part question. I'm always interested in understanding if people are very confident in what they do, but do you also feel like you're always learning and evolving? Yes. I am confident, but every day I learn, and every day at the end of the day, I think tomorrow we can do better. Every day. Uh, it's no exception to that. Now, when I come to work, I have this position of leadership, and therefore you have to be confident. Yeah.

Because if not, your team will not be confident. You have to know what you are talking about. You have to have the knowledge. You have to have the experience. You have to have the sensitivity of a leader, because you have to understand who needs help, who doesn't need help, who's strong, who's weak, all those kind of things. Uh, but at the same time, I question everything every day. You do? Starting with myself and starting with everybody, and everything that we do is questionable, and everything that we do today, tomorrow could be improved and, and be done in a different way. I guess that's a, a really amazing way to not stay complacent. You know? You cannot be complacent because then you're satisfied, and, and then you don't evolve.

And also, you may develop an ego and a s- certain satisfaction about what you have achieved, and in that case, suddenly you become blind and deaf. [laughs] But how do you continue to not stay complacent, especially when you've been doing this for... at the same place for so many years, and there's a element of repetition, right? Doing something- Yes ... over and over and over again. How do you continue to teach yourself and evolve when it is repetition day after day after day?Repetition because you can do better- Mm-hmm ... by repeating the same movement. Mm-hmm. You know, if you have seen the movie Jiro: Dream of Sushi, this man at 90 years old says, "You know, I'm still perfecting the cut of the fish [laughs] that I have been cutting for 70 years."

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I have the same kind of vision. I have been doing things a certain way, and today a lot of my journey in the kitchen is not only being with the cooks and helping them and testing the food and guiding them with the sauce, it's also managing people, and I think I can do better on all of the aspects of what a chef restaurateur is. I like doing yoga. I- Oh, nice ... I'm not great at it, but I like it. I like doing it, but I find it very hard. I find the physical nature of it very hard, but what I also find hard is blocking out all the noise, and when I am in a state of flow, which doesn't happen every time I do a yoga class, I'm telling you, I want it to happen.

But when I'm in that state of flow, I feel laser focused, and I feel like I can kind of take over the world in a little, in a little bit. I feel really myself. Do you feel that way when you're in the kitchen or at the restaurant in a state of flow? Well, it's different energies, right? When I am in offices, it's a certain- Yeah, yeah ... energy- Yeah ... which is very different than being in a dining room and speaking to clients or observing the waiter serving or being in the heart of the action, which is the kitchen. Is it still a rush? Like, is it still as exciting as it seems? It is exciting. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. It's never the same. Yeah. It's changing all the time. Today it's sunny, and it's no traffic, and people will come on time.

Tomorrow we may have a big storm, and it's no cabs, and the traffic is terrible, or it's the UN, and they- Yeah [laughs] ... close all the streets. Yeah. Or the president is in town, and then nobody moves, and then everybody d- comes at the same time, or people are late or- Yeah ... employees have a hard time to come because it's a blizzard. I mean, you have, you have a lot of challenges every day, but it's part of the life of the restaurant. Yeah. And then you don't have any fear about it. You just deal with it. The delivery is late. Okay, no problem. We're gonna find a solution. Uh, the associate didn't show up. Okay, no problem. We're gonna find a solution. The clients are late. It's okay. We're gonna be fine, and all of that becomes something that is an habit for us. So we're dealing with it, and we are not that stressed, and we are not that stressed because it's no fear.

Mm. It's no punishment. Mm-hmm. We are going to do the best we can. Mm-hmm. But if we can't, we feel bad, but nobody's gonna scream at you, or nobody's gonna punish you, or you're not gonna be humiliated. It's not the end of the world. It's not the end of the world. Did you always have this approach to stress? No, not at all. When did it change? So I was abused in the kitchen. Yeah. And then you will think that when I became the chef- Yeah ... I will do the contrary of what I had seen and lived. Actually, I tried to emulate my mentors. It's probably just what you knew, right? It's what I knew. Yeah. I thought it was the right thing to do. Right. Until I realized very quickly actually, because the good staff was leaving. I mean, most of the staff was leaving, and I was miserable and so on, and I was like, "Mm, it's something wrong."

And one day I had this moment, and I realized, I was like, "Oh, my God, you are so wrong. You are emulating the people that made you miserable. Why are you doing that?" So I change, and then I... It took me a long time to change some of the m- people that I, I had trained, but we finally made it. You undid it. I undid it, exactly. And I guess you feel a lot better doing so, running the kitchen the way- Of course ... you want to with compassion. Yes. Of course, you feel good. Every morning after my meditation, after my practice, I look at myself in a mirror before I shave because I shave every day when I go to work. [laughs] It's part of my show for respect for what we do in a kitchen- Mm-hmm ...

to be clean cut, shaved. I impose that to all the staff as well. Really? Yes. It's in the handbook. You have to be shaved to be in the kitchen. Why is that? It's just a form of respect? It's a form of respect. Well, if you have a beard and it's well kept- Yeah ... and you take care, good- Yeah ... take good care of it, and your haircut is, uh, decent, or you wear a net or whatever, if you want to have long hair, I don't care, but you have to have s- something. It's a show of respect for the institution itself. Speaking of the institution, you've said, I even think it's in your Instagram bio, "The fish is the star of the plate." Why does simplicity matter to you? Well, it's logical. So fish, as we know, is very delicate- Mm-hmm ...

in texture. Mm-hmm. I mean, when you compare a steak with a filet of fish- Mm-hmm ... the steak is much more solid in a sense- Yeah ... than, than the, the filet. Yeah. That's gonna be potentially flaky, break and, and, and act differently when you cook it if it's not cooked properly. Mm-hmm. The flavors of the fish are very s- very subtle. Mm-hmm. People think sometimes that fish is bland, which it's not, but you have to find a way to elevate- Mm-hmm ... the filet of fish or the piece of seafood that you are cooking or the shellfish to the next level. And because it's such a s- delicate product, the more you are going to put in your plate for the sake of presentation will compete with the seafood that is in the plate.

So by saying the fish is the star of the plate, you think whatever is going in that plate, it doesn't matter how many ingredients are going- Mm-hmm ... but they're gonna elevate the fish to the next level.Do you like to fish, by the way? [laughs] Like- No. No? [laughs] I don't like to kill animals. [laughs] [laughs] So I don't mind cooking them and eating- [laughs] ... although I'm conflicted at times. But when I am on a fishing boat- [laughs] ... I pray for no one to catch fish, and I jinx it. [laughs] And nobody catch fish when I am on the boat. Really? [laughs] And, and, and I love it. I'm so happy. You are? [laughs] So you're actually- Actually, I did a TV show that not too many people watched, I think very few, called Avec Eric. Okay. But we won two Emmys. Y- so tell me about it.

I don't know about it. Well, we were... So the- Oh, your TV show, Avec Eric. It was my own. Yeah, my, my own TV show. [laughs] So we were starting at Le Bernardin in the kitchen, and I was showing a little bit- [laughs] ... the life of the restaurant. Then I was traveling for inspiration- Yeah ... and the, the third part of the show was cooking- Yeah ... ingredients that- Yeah ... I find during my trip. And we were in the Cayman Island, and they wanted to go fishing, and I was praying, and the, the captain said, "You know, we're gonna catch a tuna because I always catch something. He said, "In my life, it never happened for me to come back with no fish." In my mind, I was like, "You know what? Today, [laughs] he may not be so lucky." [laughs] [laughs] After eight hours on that boat, we finally caught, like, a sardine like this- [laughs] ...

that we had to share in between the captain and I, and I was like, "You see? You are not that successful." He must've been happy about that. [laughs] He was kinda kind of embarrassed, and I said, "Don't worry. I jinxed it. That's, that's, [laughs] that's what happened." We talk a lot on this show about male friendships because I think they're incredibly important, and they're almost necessary to better yourself and have an evolving friendship. Anthony Bourdain was one of your closest friends. Yes. How did you meet? He wrote Kitchen Confidential in 2000. The book was a huge success. Yeah. Part of the industry was scandalized by what Anthony was writing about. Part of the industry was very entertained. And someone called me and said, "You know, he's speaking about you in the book.

It's... A lot of times he mentioned y- your name and Le Bernardin." So I was forced to buy the book- [laughs] ... and read it. And I was scared because I was like, "Wow, he has trashed half of the industry. Maybe I'm part of them." And he had only compliments for me. So I invited him, and we had lunch at Le Bernardin, kind of a semi-boozy lunch. [laughs] [laughs] And the friendship started at that point. After the lunch, he called me back and said, "You know, we, we should go out. I know a place n- close to Le Bernardin. It's a fantastic dive bar." It was in a subway station on, on, uh, Broadway and, and 50. I don't remember the name of that dive bar, but it was terrible, and he was so happy there. And again, we met, and we had many great times together, great moments together, share meals, and, and travel together, and then professionally travel with him on his show, and- What was that like?

Was it exceptional? It was exceptional because we were so comfortable together, and in between shoots, Anthony had a very different attitude with me than on the show. And on the show, I had... knew that I was the sidekick of Anthony, and he was supposed to tease me, and I was supposed to be a bit naive and be tricked by him and create this kind of energy, and he was the bad guy. I was the good guy. We had fun creatively on the show, but soon as the camera were shut down, we would be very close and have long conversation, very philosophical conversations. Those moments are very rare and to find friends where you can have those quality moments are very rare, and it's something that I enjoyed very much.

What do you find that you learned about yourself in that friendship? Learning how to trust, especially when you come from an environment which is the kitchen where you couldn't trust much of your f- Yeah ... superiors, although Anthony was an equal in a sense. Trust, generosity, patience, all those qualities. You know, you have to learn how to listen to your friends. It's very important. It's very important. Yes. Generosity and even compassion. Compassion with the Buddhist term, which means I'm wishing you very well- Mm-hmm ... but I'm gonna do also everything possible for you not to suffer. Mm-hmm. The face of Le Bernardin, it's very much associated with you, and I think people must think that you have all the answers.

Are there times- I do not. [laughs] Do you not? I mean, how, how do you deal with that though? Because you're the man in charge. Yes. Because I am a man in charge doesn't mean that I have all the answers. Right. I'm gonna give you an quick analogy. Please. You know when you do the, the dog sleds- Mm-hmm ... rides? Very often, the leader of the pack, it's a female of a certain age, not too old and, and, and not too young because the young males, the dogs, have no compassion. They go at their rhythm, and they exhaust the team. Mm-hmm. And the old ones, of course, are... don't have the power any longer, and they shouldn't be in that position. And very often, uh, the male dogs don't have compassion for the teams because they don't know what it is, but the female, like our mothers, have natural compassion- Mm-hmm ...

and they are really thinking about the team and the best for the team and, and the best for carrying the passengers, and, and they do a great job. So a leader has to be sensitive. A leader has to be strong and has to admit his mistakes And the dog sleds, I mean, when the, the leader makes a mistake and goes in, in powder and they sink in the snow, first time, the dogs, they bark. Yeah. Second time, they bite the leader. So you have to show leadership by showing that you are human. Mm-hmm. Being strong, having the knowledge, being an inspiration. Mm-hmm. But also, you have to know how to say, "I don't know.

We're gonna find out together. I'm sorry I made a mistake. Let's try to fix it." That's, I think it's great leadership, when you're not afraid of that, when you're like, "Hey, we can't be perfect all the time." Mm-hmm. People can relate to that because in our life, we are not perfect all the time. Mm-hmm. We have many challenges. We have ups and downs, and we have other challenges that we have to master, and I'm very confident when I come to work and in my life that I'm human and, uh, I'm inspiring as much as I can, and it's okay to be wrong sometimes. I know Le Bernardin has been so successful and at the top of lists, and accolades and awards and whatnot, and I think it's really hard to maintain longevity and maintain staying power.

Do you think in some way the culture there that you have championed has a role in its staying power over all these years? Staying in power of what? [laughs] [laughs] I, I guess, I mean- I'm really not in power of anything. I just- Other than, than taking care of the restaurant. Then the media, we are very lucky with the media because we have been rewarded many times. Mm-hmm. And it's happening all- Mm-hmm ... very often, and we are grateful, and when we have something to celebrate, we celebrate. Mm-hmm. But they're not in our mind- Mm-hmm ... constantly. We don't think about the stars or we don't thinks about the ratings, we don't thinks about the articles, we don't think about that. Mm-hmm. And I remind always the cooks and whoever works at the restaurant that why are we in the restaurant?

Did we come in this industry because we care about the rewards- Mm-hmm ... or we came because we have a passion for what we do? Hospitality, cooking, you name it. When you do that, your life is much more relaxed, much more simple. You don't have to worry about that aspect. Then of course, I'm not naive. I know the power of the media and the influence that they will have on the business, but they are not a driving force, neither for me or the team. Mm-hmm. We are there because we are living our passion. That what... And also, we're making a living. Does it still mean a lot to you when guests tell you how much they enjoyed their meal, and how pleasurable it was, and memories that they've been celebrating, and anniversaries or birthdays?

Does it ever lose its luster? No. It, it makes me a little bit shy. Why? I, I'm always shy when I receive compliments. Yeah. And I'm always very focused when I get criticism. Huh. And I remember, uh, Gilbert Le Coze, one of my mentors, said to me, "I believe in your life you're gonna be successful." He said, "If it happens, when you will read something positive, read it, and never read it again. When you read something negative, read it every day until you fix the problem." Hmm. And that stick in my mind, and until today, I have never read a good article twice. And we don't have too many criticism, but when I, when we get something that is potentially negative, I really, really focus on it.

It's not hurting my ego, it's just that I agree that we were not necessarily providing the best and we can do better, and again, putting all my energy in it with a positive attitude. But what if you did do your best? And what if it's just some cranky... It happens. It happens. It happens. Yes. It happens. But you can't fix that. We try to fix it- You do ... as much as we can, yes, of course. You do. We work as a team. Sometimes I may not be the right person to [laughs] take care of that cranky person, but someone else in the team say, "I'm, I'm, I think I'm, I'm gonna manage with him or with her." What do you, what do you love the most about your job? Because you have managed to take something that you're incredibly passionate about from a very young age and parlayed it into a career that's full of passion and love, and you have a job.

You make a living off of it. I make a good living out of it. You make a good living off of it. Which is pretty good considering... I mean, you know, when you count how many sh- chefs and cooks are working in industry, and how many are at my level, we are not too many. So I feel extremely lucky. I think luck has been a huge factor in my life. Hard working, of course, has been a huge factor in my life, and still caring is a huge factor as well. You care. I care a lot. The day I don't care, it's time to leave or do something else. Because how can you force yourself to go and do something that you don't wanna do? It's, for me, it's insane. You're really hurting yourself.

[laughs] When you wake up and do your practices- Yes ... do you feel grateful every day for what you get to do? Yes. And you don't lose sight of it? Every morning, I'm starting by saying thank you when I wake up, to have woken up, to be alive- Mm-hmm ... to have the life that I have. That's the beginning of my, uh, day. Then I drink my coffee, [laughs] which is decaf coffee because I'm going to meditation after that. I cannot have caffeine. And I have my rituals and with the meditation, but it's every day two type of meditation that I practice. One is called single point meditation, Shamatha, and the other one, Vipassana, guided meditation. So Shamatha is basically an exercise to be in control of your thoughts and be in the present, and not let your thoughts control you, and not be in the past, which doesn't exist anymore, and think about the future, which is not here yet.

Are you always thinking forward? In life, I have to think about tomorrow for Le Bernardin. Professionally, I have to think about many things, but in those decisions, I'm very much in the present as well. It's, if not, you can't really do a good job in predicting where you're gonna go if you're not in the present. And in meditation, after you are finally controlling your thoughts, I tackle some subjects that are sometimes complicated, sometime very simple. For instance, this morning I was thinking about attachment, and I went deep into the subject of attachment. Attached to your reputation, attached to your comfort, attached to many other things.

And is it really important to be so attached to it? And is it a way to be much more distant from many things that are attractive to you? Ultimately, at the end of my meditation, I know that attachment is definitely not the right thing to do. [laughs] Do you think you're attached to the restaurant? I am attached in a positive way. Yeah. My mindset is not-But, oh, I have a restaurant, that's a great business, I can make a lot of money, I can be famous. That's the wrong mindset. I am attached to the restaurant because I'm like, "Wow, I have an instrument to express myself and to teach and to share and to make people happy." So that's a good attachment. I'm really happy that you came here today.

I didn't know entirely what to expect. I mean, I know your food, I know your spaces, I see you on TV a lot, but I think it was really interesting getting to know a different side of the businessman, of the culinary master, of the figurehead, of the media guy. There's like a deep-rooted, quiet confidence and spiritual nature that's embedded in it seems like every single thing you do, and it really comes through. And this was a really enlightening, flow-like conversation for me, and I hope it was for you, too. I'm very humbled by all those compliments, and you make me feel a little bit uncomfortable now. Uh, but thank you very much. I appreciate that. In life, I learn how to be myself and to do the right things, and I think this should be a mantra for everybody.

Be yourself, do the right thing. [upbeat music]