I grew up in Austin and mostly just played soccer, studied and worked so I could save money to travel to soccer camps and tournaments. My first job was as a busboy at Baby Acapulco on Barton Springs Road. I left Austin to go to college where I got a degree in Literature and continued to work in different restaurants…I had gotten the bug. After college I came back to Austin and considered going to culinary school. In the meantime, I applied at Chez Nous because I had studied a lot of French in school, and France had just won the World Cup so I guess France was trending for me!I got the job at Chez Nous and once I started I knew I could learn what I wanted here so I decided against culinary school. After that, it was just pouring myself into learning everything I could from the chef before me, Eric Pelegrin. The owners of Chez Nous, Pascal and Sybil have a ton of great old French regional cookbooks, so I was able to practice my French and learn new recipes at the same time.
There used to be a place called Mezzaluna in Austin that served sea bass I’ll never forget. I had worked in food service since I was 14, but after trying that fish I knew I wanted to be able to cook like that.
The day crew gets in and sets up, receives orders and starts the preparation for the day. Many of our dishes involve components that take several hours, and some even several days, so the process is sort of never-ending. We have lunch service which caters to mostly people that work downtown and are looking for something a little different than the usual lunch fare. After lunch, it’s back to prep and reorganizing ourselves for dinner service. In the afternoon the P.M. crew shows up and coordinates with the day crew to continue whatever it is we’re working on. I will consult with my sous chef about the menu and any specials we’re working on and get those things set in motion.Before dinner service, we sit down as a family and have a meal together. Then it’s time for the show to begin! Hopefully we’ll get a good pop to really get the kitchen moving and in our zone. Our kitchen is pretty quiet compared to some since we have worked together for some time and there’s a lot of nonverbal communication going on. Definitely not a lot of shouting or drama, we’re not that kind of place. Finally, after the last customers are served, we start breaking down, cleaning the kitchen and getting our plan ready for the next day when we come in and do it all again!
Duck confit is a great quintessential French dish that everyone likes that most people haven’t had, but it is not something you’re going to make every day. For something simple and quick, I would say Poisson Meuniere using whichever kind of fish looks the best. Season it, dust it in flour, sauté and make a sauce with browned butter and lemon juice in the same pan.
Like all cooks, my knives are probably the most important because that is how you interact with the ingredients.
It has attractive, modern, minimalist styling that lends itself to being easy to handle. The blade profile is really well suited to rocking back and forth. It’s got a great edge out of the box.
An old chef of mine had a vintage carbon steel knife and I fell in love with the sharpness, how easy it was to sharpen, and the soul of pure carbon steel knives. Fun fact: the old Sabatier knives were the best and even influenced the Western style Japanese knives.
Thanks, Christopher!
For more fun at Chez Nous, check out Christopher's fricassée d'escargots recipe!