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As a child growing up in the countryside of France, Laurent Tourondel wasn’t
content to sit quietly in a classroom. His family soon learned that maybe
school wasn’t the best place for him – but the kitchen was.
Tourondel spent hours with his grandmother baking cakes, scooping snails out of
their butter-soaked shells, and coaxing rich flavor out of cocottes of braised
rabbit, mesmerized by the smells and tastes. When he was thirteen, his family
finally figured it out. The only way to get the kid to stay in school was to
send him to cooking school. Four years later, Tourondel graduated from the
Saint Vincent Ecole de Cuisine in Montlucon, France, with a “d’Aptitude
Professionnelle de Cuisinier” to embark on a career that would take him through
some of the most esteemed kitchens in the world, but not before cooking in the
French Army as the Chef to the Admiral. Following, and without hesitation,
Tourondel traveled to London’s famed Gentleman’s Club, Boodles, then followed
his dream all the way to New York City for a star-studded tenure as executive
chef at celebrity caterers Tentations, Potel & Chabot and as Pastry Chef of
Restaurant Beau Geste. Eager to refine his French technique, Tourondel returned
to France to work under Jacques Maximin at Restaurant Ledoyen. After honing his
skills, the culinary journey continued, taking him to Moscow’s Restaurant
Mercury, then ultimately back to the stoves in France for a two-year stint at
Michelin 3-star Relais & Chateau Troigros. Laurent Tourondel had found his
calling – in the kitchen.
Troigros knew talent when he saw it, and tapped Tourondel to become Executive
Chef of C.T. (Claude Troisgros), his debut restaurant in New York City. There
Tourondel received three stars from Ruth Reichl of The New York Times.
After a leave of absence to stage under Joel Robuchon, Tourondel returned to
the States, and upon C.T.’s closing, traveled west to Las Vegas where he was
chosen to comandeer the kitchen of the Palace Court Restaurant at the World
Famous Caesar’s Palace Hotel & Casino. Lady Luck shined on Tourondel in
Vegas; in 1998 he was honored as one of Food & Wine Magazine’s Ten
Best New Chefs. But New York City beckoned, and despite rave reviews in
Vegas, Tourondel was wooed back to the city by an opportunity to take charge at
a new fine dining restaurant in an elegant, old-world townhouse on the Upper
East Side. The restaurant was called Cello.
“It was a big step for me to come back to New York,” recalls Tourondel. “Nobody
knew about me. I was this guy who came out of nowhere.” Soon, though, everyone
knew and in 1999, Cello received three stars from William Grimes of The New York
Times.
When Cello closed its doors, Tourondel took advantage of the respite from the
stoves and traveled the world, making his way across South America, through
Asia and Africa, on a tour that was all about eating, learning, and soaking in
the flavors of the world. “In Argentina I drove eight hours to try a piece of
lamb in Patagonia,” he says. “The sheep over there eat salty grass. The
meat was like nothing I have ever tasted.” These experiences have stayed
with this ever-evolving chef and a year and a half later, with his wanderlust
satisfied, Tourondel returned to the states to open a modern American
Steakhouse.
“I find the steakhouse concept very interesting,” says Tourondel. “We don’t
have steakhouses in France. We have bistros, brasseries and many high-class
restaurants so I thought a steakhouse would be interesting. The key for
me is to keep it simple and wonderful.”
Tourondel, in addition to overseeing the kitchen at BLT Steak, and acting as
Consulting Chef at Union Pacific (through December 2004), can also be seen
speaking about his recent cookbook, co-written with Andrew Friedman, called Go
Fish: Modern Seafood Cooking for the Home (Wiley, October 2004).
Among the many rave reviews BLT Steak has received, The New York Times awarded
two stars in April, followed by three stars in Crain’s in June, and Esquire
selected BLT Steak as one of the “Best New Restaurants of 2004.” Thanks
to these reviews and avid fans, the BLT Group has expanded, opening BLT Fish in
January 2005, and will open an extension of BLT Steak –
BLT Prime – in the Spring of 2005.
Tourondel continues to open one door after another into a future that is
certain to be as bright as his past. |