*
[car horn honking]
[speaking French]
- Mr. Chef, how are ya, buddy?
Bonjorno! How are you? Good to see you.
- Hey.
How yoose doin'?
- Jason!
- Jason, the chef's up front.
- Bonjour monsieur!
- You're not walkin' away.
[indistinct chatter]
- Not green enough?
I don't think anybody's ready for this cold weather.
- Yeah, we'll get through it though.
[instrumental music]
- Georges was one of the pioneers of French chefs
to come to the US more than 40 years ago.
But we can say 20 so he looks younger.
- Tell us about your restaurant, Georges
what's it like?
- Georges is a legend here in America.
He put Philadelphia on the map from the minute
he opened the restaurant.
- For the experienced traveler, it may come as
no surprise that Philadelphia has
the best restaurant in the country.
[instrumental music]
- Georges epitomized the bravado of a chef.
- He'll still tell you today that he is, not was
he is, the best saucier ever.
- He's a demanding perfectionist
in a world that's horribly imperfect.
- King in the 80s. King in the 90s.
- How many years can you do that?
When you're at the top
it's very hard to go anywhere else.
- Look at the restaurants in New York that didn't last.
- They were all facing the same
change in people's tastes.
- He has a young chef now. Nick.
The guy is a magician.
- People walk in the door at Le Bec-Fin.
They're expecting the stars.
- The fish was wonderful. - Oh, wonderful.
- Thank you.
- You better kill it every single time.
[instrumental music]
- French cuisine is the root
of everything that gets cooked
in American restaurants.
Making your own stock.
The idea of building flavors that become sauces.
Sauce making is a really
French pursuit
and it's something that's dying.
- Is it time for tomato?
- Yes, I do.
- Yes.
- Uh, 50, Chef.
- Shrimp shells..
- Oh, the galangal.
- No.
- Yeah, I've got to finish it today.
[crowd applauding]
- I want you to pay close attention now because, even you.
'Cause you're gonna learn something here, this is one
of the featured dishes at a beautiful restaurant
in Philadelphia called Le Bec-Fin.
Would you like to introduce
the gentleman who's gonna do it for us?
- Can I explain first that I went to Philadelphia
about three years ago and had believed
that old legend that it was closed.
Uh, when I got there however, I went to one of the --
To my great and astonishment, I found one of the best
restaurants I'd ever eaten in outside of New York
and could compare with the best restaurants of New York.
I found it's run by a young 31-year-old chef from Lyon
which is the capital of Gastronomy in France.
And all those chef believe it and it's true
and here is Georges Perrier of Le Bec-Fin.
[crowd applauding]
- Welcome.
- Bienvenue. - Bienvenue.
- Philadelphia for a relatively big city is also
a little bit of a small town.
We were always a great junk food capital.
The cheesesteak, the soft pretzel.
But we had no restaurant culture to speak of.
- Walnut Street was very dark at night it was not that much activity.
There were hookers and Georges didn't know.
They would come in and say, "Can we use the restroom?"
He'd go "Of course, of course," and he'd see them in
the sequins and all this and that..
[laughing]
And finally when we told him, he was outraged.
He would say, "Prostitui."
"Prostituis in front of my restaurant."
[instrumental music]
- When you walk into Le Bec-Fin, it was about this
beautiful things passing by.
The patisserie, the soufflee
always higher, taller
better than anyone else.
- It was like a Faberge egg.
- Chandeliers, the room, the lighting, the candles.
You know, you felt like you were in France.
- Even the physical appearance of the restaurant
reflected him.
- Georges was like, you know, the Sun King.
- I remember the first time I ate there, there were 7 or 8 of us.
And they put the food down and it has these, uh, brass
containers over the plate to keep the food hot
and I was about to take mine off and the waiter said
"Oh, no, no, no, no," and -- and all of a sudden
8 people appear and they each take off
the plates at the same time, it was ceremonial.
It was pretty intimidating.
But people liked that.
- Now, one of your signature dishes is a crab cake
with light mustard sauce, would you describe that for us?
- Craig Claiborne did a review in the New York Times
and he raved about Georges' food.
Suddenly, we're getting New Yorkers and suddenly
our tables were booked way ahead of time.
People would come in with the reviews in their hands
so they would remember what to order.
[instrumental music]
- When I graduated school, I was fortunate enough
to get a job at Lutece.
Lutece was, you know, to New York City I think
what Le Bec-Fin is to Philadelphia.
I was there for...a month and a half
before they announced that they're closing.
We were doing 13 covers a night, 20 covers a night
and you can't sustain a restaurant on that.
We were nervous for a while at Le Bec cause, you know
you see a lot of the same signs.
- You have to constantly renew your clientele.
And every ten years you destroy and change everything.
Because it's a theater, it's a place where people go
to be carried away.
[indistinct chatter]
- What happens to you inside when you open a magazine
or something and there's an article that says
"Fine dining in America is dead?"
- Yeah.
- But everybody's had to change menus
and watch their food costs and --
[instrumental music]
[speaking in French]
Voila, voila.
[speaking French]
- He tells a story of like being held down
and somebody pouring liquor in his mouth.
- The idea was to take a young person
and to break that person
to rebuild that person into a Superman
a super chef.
[speaking French]
Oh, I can't speak English.
- You speak better than Georges. - Oh.
- I said to Georges, you speak English like a Spanish cow.
But you know American women are..
...they love that.
[laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
- He's downstairs, sir.
- Chestnut and milk.
- Chestnut cream..
- For bouche.
Can you throw me a fish back please?
- Truffle sauce is beautiful.
[indistinct chatter]
- You're not supposed to know which ones is which.
- Okay? It's a fine taste..
- I don't have 300 bucks.
- Alright, but I don't have $300.
So if I win, I get $300, but if I lose
I don't have to pay anything.
[indistinct chatter]
- When people think about classic French food
they think of cream and butter and heaviness.
It can still be really healthy and still be French food.
- When I first started there, we were fighting about like
how much butter to put in sauces and you know
if we're not gonna put butter in sauce, what are we gonna substitute for?
If we're not gonna put cream in our sauce
what are we gonna substitute for?
- Yeah.
Don't put in more salt.
It's fine.
- He'll always tell us, you know, something feel it's perfect
it's perfect, it's great. No, don't change anything about it
and then I'll turn around, he'll be pouring cream in it and I'm like
"Son of a bitch, man, why don't you just tell me
to put a little cream in it, I don't mind."
But, I mean, we still fight about it
but it's not as bad as when I first started.
It's a learning process between him and myself.
- Well, now, we're on a fairly different compromise.
- You going to the game tonight?
Why?
[laughing]
- Alright, thank you so much, chef.
- Good.
Someone has to.
[indistinct chatter]
- I need like a minute and a half.
[indistinct]
- Three right now, I need three galettes right now.
How long on the three galettes?
[indistinct chatter]
- Fifteen is two galettes and a -- and a..
- No, 15 is not done.
- Let me toss it up. - Yes, chef.
- No.
- Can I make sure I get a nice hors d'oevres tray for this?
Thanks.
[indistinct chatter]
[plate clanking]
[indistinct chatter]
- In the old restaurant, when the people were
in the dining room and they could hear Georges
people back then used to think it was cute.
They'd go, "Oh my God, a French chef."
Now, yelling and screaming is not kosher.
- Eddie, you need three all day.
- I have two right now and then one more and I'm good?
- Yeah, but that's-that's all you have. - Got it.
- That's all I have. 86..
[instrumental music]
[indistinct chatter]
[chuckles]
- Thank you.
[instrumental music]
- All those great Le and La restaurants
of that period are gone.
- This is the only restaurant left of this generation.
- Georges Perrier from Le Bec-Fin
uh, had an amazing summer, I hear, Georges.
Welcome back to the 10 Show. Always great to have you here.
Georges, we need to talk about something too because you've been the master
of Philadelphia for 40 years, and you've got
a special menu coming up, uh, uh, to celebrate your 40 years.
And you also had a big announcement
since the last time you were on the show.
- You're closing Le Bec-Fin. - No.
- Which must have been a very difficult decision.
- When I heard that, uh, Le Bec-Fin was on the market
and I could actually get it confirmed
um, you know, I told my editors and they were aghast, you know?
"Aah! Le Bec-Fin closing? Are you kidding me?"
That's front page news.
- He says, "Abe, Le Bec is not like it used to be
forget about the old days.
This generation, it's leaning towards something a little
different and it's hard for me to figure out what."
- When he announced it, he actually got really upset.
He had about a glass of champagne
and he got really emotional, he was crying.
Everybody's mood was just completely changed.
It was like, who cares now? Everybody had that mentality.
But that same night, Chef Perrier came into the kitchen
guns blaring, he was yelling. There's nothing's changed with him.
He announces he's closing, but he comes in
with the same intensity level every day.
- Is that good? - Down.
- Down? - Good. Right there.
- The Chaine des Rotisseurs is a -- a group of people
who really love food and wine.
I-it has been a big part of, I think many chef's lives in
in the sense that they were there to support us.
- Do you need these or no?
- Uh, we may. - Hold on.
We -- we're getting creative, hold on.
- There aren't too many eating clubs in Philadelphia anymore.
The Chaine really stands alone.
They celebrate chefs such as, uh, Georges Perrier and Nick Elmi.
They have close ties to the James Beard Foundation
and these are the people who were foodies
before foodies were foodies.
I think that if Le Bec closes, where else are they going to go?
- Hello, Percy. How are you?
[instrumental music]
- We don't have oyster spoons for 80 people.
- Fuckin' great. - There's 80 people coming.
- I understand that, I have the contract. - I know you..
Okay, buddy. What time did you get up today?
- Uh.. - Where did you go? It's been..
The question is what time did we leave last night?
- Okay, so, last night the dishwasher went down
the veg walk-in went down, and then I walked into this morning
to a major gas leak and PGW was here and they were gonna shut down the building.
- Ooh!
- If we blow up on a Sunday..
- You smell it now? - I do.
- Oh, motherfucker. - Maybe it's a lingering gas over here.
- So this -- this is all completely shut off now.
- It's back on. - Really?
They turned it back on? - I just turned it back on.
- Oh, okay. Alright.
- It might be moving back.
Just wait and see if they calm down a while.
- Okay, great. - Call me, alright? I might..
Georges has my number? - Yeah.
- He went downstairs? - He went downstairs.
- Uh, Georges!
- I need you to tell Chef Perrier
how you want the dauphinoise done because he's yelling
at Tyler, telling him he's doing it wrong.
- How is Tyler doing it wrong? - He's not happy.
- How is he not happy?
- Chef!
These aren't too thick, this is how you want them.
- No, they're not!
- I know it's okay.
- Yeah, listen, everything's ready.
He's gonna do great. - Okay, you do it then, great.
Can I please have a cigarette before I fucking
punch you in the eyeball?
- Ah! What? What? What?
- Yep, smells like gas. - Yup.
- Goin' downstairs.
- Bake them in the oven down here, put them
on the plates, get them the fuck out. Everything's on the cart.
Everything that was done last night should have ended up on the cart.
It -- it did end up on the cart.
- Yes, chef.
- Ahh! Ahh!
- How are you? Okay?
- We're gonna bake them downstairs, torch them up here
and then put them on a plate and go.
We're ready. We're ready.
- You talk to staff already.. - Line up, please.
- We've talked to everybody. We're gonna take care of it chef, don't worry.
- Yes, chef.
- I just got here, chef. We're not opening all of them.
- You told me to open a bottle and let you taste it.
- Yes, chef.
It's a third course wine. Yes, chef.
- We have no choice, we're gonna pace ourselves tonight.
There's 10 people at each table
we're gonna do 10 plates at a time. There gonna..
We're.. Right when we get 10 plates done
we need to walk away from this table and let the servers
jump in the table, pick everything up and get the fuck out.
They're going up the stairs, through the bar.
Up the stairs, through the bar.
[instrumental music]
[no audio]
[indistinct chattering]
- Yes, go tell Eddie right now. - Okay.
I need a steak tartare cooked seared medium rare.
- Whatever that means.
- A lady would like to substitute
steak tartare for one of the courses, but she does not
want the tartare meat raw, she would like it cooked.
- Yes.
- I don't know her personally, so..
- Hey. Easy.
We're just gonna do it and We're gonna make her happy
and that's what she wants. We're gonna move on.
You're gonna smile, look pretty.
- No, no, no.
- Make everybody happy.
- And go home and take a nap.
- Eddie! She wants a tartare medium rare to medium.
Do it. - Why don't I just make her a hamburger?
[laughter]
[instrumental music]
- This vine has provided the juice
that's in these glasses.
Could you all raise your glasses
and drink to these new members of the mondial?
Viva la mondial. I declare this session over.
[applause]
- Over here. - Yup.
- Come here, you. Hot? Warm? Good?
- Hot.
- No, back downstairs, it's cold as shit.
Are you guys fucking bananas? Are you trying to fuck me?
- What? No.. - Are you trying to fuck me?
- Tyler! Come on! Get it in there!
Move!
Is that oven all the way up?
- The oven sucks, chef.
- I don't give a shit. Is it all the way up?
- Just give us 3 minutes. 3 minutes.
- In 3 minutes, you'll have hot oysters.
- Where is all the food?
[indistinct chattering]
- They're already cooked. I want them fucking hot.
I just want them hot. That's all I'm asking for.
- 10 seconds.
- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Alright, everyone, get the fuck out of my way.
- Okay. I can smell gas.
I smell gas!
Where's Tyler? - Downstairs.
- Oh shit.
- Holy fucking shit.
Wow. Okay. Uh, We can't do this over here.
Just stop. - That just scared the piss out of me.
- Oh, my God.
- I need table 1. Eight oysters now.
- Come on, get those up. Come on.
[indistinct chatter]
- Do not turn that, do not turn that oven on!
- Why?
- 'Cause we, we just had the gas..
- What? - We had the gas blow up.
- Why? - Because Michael was blowtorching the shit.
Come on, underliners! Come on, underliners!
Guys, look at every plate, make sure they all have duck.
Make sure they all have Asian pear.
Make sure they all have gold leaf.
[indistinct chatter]
- What are you waiting for, all the rules to be clear?
- Michael! Here. Here. Here. Here. Here.
Right there, right there.
Go put the soup in the tea pots!
[instrumental music]
[music continues]
- Give me the last one, I got it.
- It's a Riesling. It's a German Riesling
I take that back, it's an Alsatian Riesling.
- Truffles. Sauce. Artichokes. Fish.
Hey, there you guys are!
Holy shit!
You guys gotta move fast!
[music continues]
- Smell that?
Mmm.
Truffles.
- The first Chaine dinner that we ever came to
it was at Le Bec-Fin, and it was a 13 course meal.
We left at 1 o'clock in the morning.
Everyone got a beautiful red delicious apple
and then we saw someone lift the stem of the apple
and on the very bottom of the plate was a little baby quail.
Tiny bird, whole bird and they had hollowed
out the apple and made a cover.
We were like all amazed. I never forgot that dish.
I never saw that again.
- I think so.
- Yes, chef.
[music continues]
- 10 more. Yep, that's it.
- Georges, to you.
To many years of friendship in the Chaine.
- You don't like that glass, do you?
- The wine's very nice.
- And so, so I have a presentation here and this says
"Chef Georges Perrier, 40 years of hospitality
"10 years of service to the Delaware Valley Chaine
December 19th, 2010."
Thank you so much.
[applauding]
- Viva Le Bec-Fin!
- There's nothing like this guy left anymore.
He's reared a generation of chefs in this city
and everybody else who used to do that
has just gotten pushed aside, he's still here.
- 1, 2..
- Philly boy born and raised going to Le Bec
and becoming a sous chef was like a, it's like a
kinda like a dream come true, you know?
I always had his cookbooks when I first started cooking
and he was just pumping out the hardest cooks in the city.
- Right here, chef. I'm cleaning it for you.
- Look at this.
- I mean it.
- You alright? Chef.
- You're very welcome, chef.
- I understand that.
- Are you serious? He's not supposed to need sauce.
Hey, you're not supposed to have sauce.
- What?
- Oui, monsieur.
What about the Eagles today?
- Who?
- Oh, my chef.
- Yeah?
It makes the two of us.
Nice job. Thank you.
- Oh.
- No, chef.
- No, I'm good.
[Nick laughing]
- I got nothing.
- Do you want a hug?
- Yup. - Alright.
Nice job.
- Georges sacrificed everything for his restaurant.
He really did.
Sacrificed his family life, his marriage.
Everything was for the restaurant.
- Chefs now who have families make it a point to try to
balance it out as much as possible
and that didn't happen in chefs of the '70s
you know, they really weren't around.
I used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen
and I would be given little chores, peeling carrots.
I was 10 when my parents separated.
I would come to his house and sleepover on Saturdays
and then on Sundays we would go to the Eagles games
and then we'd go have Chinese food.
That was the routine, on Sundays.
- He would finish cooking at 10:30 at night
but then the customers would want to see him.
So he'd have to ground spend an hour or two in the dining room
talking to the customers
so that would keep him there a couple hours.
So he was a guy that started, you know at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning
earlier if he went to market, and getting out at midnight.
What kind of family life could he have?
- I don't know how he did it.
He's an extremely willful, tenacious person.
Always had something to prove
I think more to himself than for anything else.
- The guy's pushing 70, he still has the fire to do things.
I still would be shocked if he closed Le Bec-Fin
and I -- I felt that the whole time, but, you know
I have to take him at his word.
[instrumental music]
But then again his word on Monday might be different
from his word on Tuesday.
[music continues]
- You're welcome, chef.
- Hey, chef, you want a Red Bull?
- It keeps you up, it gives you a lot of energy.
- How are you doing, chef?
[laughing]
- I'm dying, but I'm okay.
- Yes, chef.
- Here, let me help.
Okay, I'll get you the knife.
- I'm gonna get you.
[glass clinking]
[applauding]
[cheering and applauding]
Salut!
[indistinct chatter]
- We are so happy. We are so happy. - Salut!
- We met you in Paris in 1999
coming out of the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
- And we mooned the guy? We mooned the guy?
- 11:57. - Here we go.
[clanking]
[instrumental music]
[indistinct chatter]
- Happy New Year. - Happy New Year, my friend.
[baby cooing]
- Exactly.
- You wanna play with your kitchen instead?
- Yeah.
Two of the, like, best things about my week
is my Saturday night shower.
You know, when you get in the shower and, like, the week's finally over
and you're just like, aah!
And then waking up on Sunday.
[baby babbling]
Yeah.
Yeah, he still takes credit for, like, introducing us.
He tells people that he presented me my wife
like, as like a gift or something.
He loves, he loves his little Gracie too.
Uncle Georges, he's like, "Come here.
Come see your Uncle Georges."
- He's very charming.
You know, he has this reputation of being
oh, the crazy man in the kitchen
but when you get to know him, he has a heart of gold.
He really means well. He really does.
- Get in there, you. Get in there, you.
This is her favorite.
We sat down, we had a meeting the other day
and I said, you know, we have to think about what our obstacles are
as a restaurant and see how we can overcome the obstacles
and the one that we can't overcome is the dining room.
You know, I have friends who..
...like, basically refuse to come to the restaurant
just because it's too stuffy.
You know, you see people get into the dining room
and they sit there in their chair and they're like
oh, they have to sit up and they don't know
what silverware to use and what glass they should be using
and it's just, it's frustrating.
I mean, I think we can do the same food
and the same style in a restaurant
that has a little bit more contemporary, casual feel.
If I had, you know, all the money in the world
the first thing I would do would be knock down the dining room, redesign it.
Leave the chandeliers, they're gorgeous.
But everything else would just be redone.
Uh, hey, so we've got one coming in.
25 pounds, scales on..
- Half a bunch of thyme.
- I love you. I love you. - Chefs say..
- Juniper, juniper. - Huh?
- You wanna use cab? - What?
- You wanna use cab?
- Yes.
- We have to do it right before service starts, chef.
- Oh, my God!
- Don't you have another party to go?
- Yes, chef.
- I don't have any more galettes.
I already told all the waiters.
- You send out the first course so quickly
my table didn't get a bouche, then they asked me
why they didn't get one. Slow down.
Please, just slow down.
- You have to let me take care of my people, please.
You know I can do it, right?
You know I can do it.
I'm not going to now because --
Because I know that you're gonna send my food --
- I -- I'm not gonna send it until I get --
- You got it. You got it. Don't worry, I'll babysit.
- I'll babysit, don't worry.
- He actually issued, like, a statement to the entire staff
saying, you know, I'm not gonna be here anymore.
I'm gonna take a step back and I'm gonna focus on other things.
And if you guys have any questions, talk to Chef Nick.
It lasted, like, a week.
He's so singularly focused on..
...this building and this restaurant and what we're doing here.
We talk about being partners
and doing this together and eventually him stepping back
and letting me take control of the restaurant
but it's like his lifeline.
He's never gonna let it go.
- He's vacuuming up the flood downstairs.
Have you seen it?
- Sure.
- Hey, Georges. What are you vacuuming for?
- You'll be the hardest working -- the hardest working chef in America, right?
- He's a cobbler?
- Oh, wow!
[indistinct chatter]
- I had resisted reviewing Le Bec-Fin for, for many years
because we'd heard, well, Georges is gonna sell.
I was always sort of waiting for it to settle into
whatever the next version of Le Bec-Fin was gonna be.
But in the context of re-establishing
who are the top restaurants, it had to be re-reviewed
and it was...sad.
Everything was wrong.
I had a few nice dishes
because Nick is actually a really talented chef
but he was working against all kinds of odds.
The service wasn't right.
The food, did it wanna be classic
or did it wanna be modern?
The wonderful cheese cart, the lid which had been crystal
had been replaced with this plastic shield
that was busted across the back.
And the dessert cart, I remember it, you know, flying
high up to the chandeliers
and suddenly it was, it was really small
and...skimpy.
It was literally just a shadow
a sketch, a stick figure of what it was.
[instrumental music]
- He just kept putting more into it to try and revive
and try and get those people back
and the people didn't wanna come back.
- Very bad. He really felt so bad.
He said, "I never had a critic that bad."
He was...devastated.
- Georges had just come off of a really terrible year personally.
His mother died at 101.
Uh, his marriage fell apart.
And he realized that Le Bec-Fin was closing.
- A culinary era is coming to an end
in Center City Philadelphia.
The iconic restaurant Le Bec-Fin
will close its doors next month.
The world renowned French eatery has been a leader
of the Philadelphia food scene for 40 years.
- Times change.
I go to dinner in the best restaurants in Philadelphia.
I'm the only man with a tie on.
It was too long, a little bit too expensive
and a little bit too formal.
No -- no fault of Georges.
- I know that tastes change
but for it just to die so spectacularly
and this was Le Bec-Fin. This was heart, this broke my heart.
- I had left, say, about a month before it ended
but my other job let me leave
and finish out the last night with them
so I went back and worked the line with them for..
And, uh, it was an interesting feeling.
It was sad, but like..
It was just, it was actually just really sad.
- I think he was tired.
Umm, in fact it had scared me
uh, towards the end seeing the kind of toll
it was having on him physically and mentally.
His whole identity, you know, is Le Bec-Fin.
It's hard to separate the two.
- And...sold 475 to 587.
713 are a pair of palatial crystal chandeliers
from the Le Bec-Fin Restaurant in Philadelphia.
I have 2500. 2750 is next.
27 and a half. 2750.
[indistinct bidding]
They sold, 2500. 180.
[instrumental music]
- Nick..
...you are top chef.
- Shut the [beep] up!
- I'm so proud of you.
- In November, Chef Elmi opened his first restaurant, Laurel in Philadelphia
and this week the James Beard Foundation named Laurel
a semi-finalist in the best new restaurant category.
Top Chef Nicholas Elmi, welcome to "The Dish."
- Thanks for having me here.
- You have a lot of good news coming your way.
- Yeah, it's been a good 2014.
- Tell us, if you could share this meal with anyone
past or present, who would that person be?
- Oh, one person? Uh..
I would say Georges Perrier who's been my mentor for a long time.
- Wow.
- I don't think Izzy's ever been in South Philly.
- What are you doing to me, dad?
- So we have to make pate en croute today.
- Well, I made everything yesterday.
- I made the dough.
- I made the farce. We have to grind it. That's the one thing --
- They give you a little bit of money, chef.
- 125.
- Yeah.
- Shut the fuck up.
You were making $125,000 a week, man.
- Oh!
- Do you want me to do it again?
- Fine, I'll do it again. I have another one.
- I don't know if this is a victory lap for him
or the start of something new.
I've seen him in various kitchens.
He's been doing all kinds of collaboration dinners
where he goes into a restaurant
and, uh, cooks with the chef.
And from what I hear, he works like a dog.
- We'll do the farce and then we'll do chicken
or the hen and then we'll do farce again.
And then we'll do the foie gras?
- Thank you, chef.
- To one day walk into the restaurant
and have him, you know, pat you on the back and say
you did a good job, I mean, that's what you worked for.
[instrumental music]
- Yeah, very little.
- Why?
- You know where the fuck I learned that.
- Lunch break!
- Georges Perrier inspired
a couple of generations of very talented chefs.
Sharing his wisdom, sharing his success
and sharing his challenges.
Georges inspired me to
to keep doing what I'm doing.
- A lot.
- I loved you, I loved you on "Top Chef." Loved you.
- Thank you so much. - Can't get into your restaurant, but loved it.
- Thank you. - You need a bigger place!
- Not yet.
Come on, come on, go. Go ahead.
- Right. It costs nothing.
- You have a girlfriend?
- The beauty about our business
is the fraternity among friends.
I feel the same today with my generation.
With Thomas Keller, with Jean Georges
with Eric Ripert.
- Izzy!
- It's good to see you.
- I gotta see this.
- Everything's done. Everything's in the oven.
Everything's fuckin' going.
- He's good, man. He seems alright.
Fucking, he still hammers it.
[instrumental music]
[cheering and applauding]
- Thank you. - Love you.
[instrumental music]