What were your favorite foods growing up?
Belgian waffles

When did you decide you wanted to be a restaurateur?
In 1986, when I was dead broke with an American passport and a French accent

Where and when did your career in food begin?
Chez Pinoy in the village of Saint-Symphorien-sur-Saône in Burgundy when I was 12-years old. On Sundays, I would help Madame Pinoy who cooked at the overcrowded café by the River Saône.

If you didn't become a restaurateur, what would you be?
A priest. But by now, I would be Pope.

Who and what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
The late, great Pierre Franey who, like me, was from Burgundy.

How would you describe your cuisine?
French, with a hint of the American South — totally appropriate for my African-American mother, Josephine Baker, who was born in St. Louis, MO.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
My voice

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Patience

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
"Love the customer as yourself."


What qualities do you look for when hiring cooks for your restaurant?
Clean fingernails

What influences the menu at your restaurant?
Simple, fresh, good produce done the old-fashioned way, but not overcooked!

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
Eat whatever you want, then dance on the piano!

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
Still waiting for it...

What is your least favorite food?
Oysters in any form

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
My friend Mimi Boleis, who is from Brittany, cooks things like homemade mayonnaise and braised endives the old-fashioned French way.

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
When my brother Koffi, who is a chef in Buenos Aires, came with his wife to visit me in East Hampton, NY, we were guests of Pierre and Betty Franey. Cooking a meal in memory of our late mother, Josephine Baker, whom Pierre had served at Le Pavillon in New York in the early 1950s, he really outdid himself.