Have all the training grounds for chefs disappeared?

Posted on by

In the 1990s, the handful of restaurants where talented up-and-coming cooks wanted to work were four-star (or aspiring to it), French, and run with precision. What distinguishes Lespinasse—the showpiece of the St. Regis Hotel from its opening in September 1991 until its closing in April 2003—is not only its position as a groundbreaking restaurant among its contemporaries, but also its storied reputation as a proving ground: the place where young, ambitious cooks were molded or broken.

Leave a Reply