DICED: The Official Blog of ICE

DICED has been sharing an interview from The Main Course, our school newsletter, between Editor Kiri Tannenbaum and The Spotted Pig Chef April Bloomfield about her restaurant and her new book, A Girl and Her Pig. Last week, we told you about April’s life in the kitchen and now we are sharing her thoughts on running a successful restaurant.

Even now that you have three restaurants, how are you able to be in the kitchen?
I try and be in the kitchen every day. Obviously, it’s hard because I’ve started to do a few more interviews for my book. I can’t obviously be in different ones at the same time, but I try and touch on them all at least once a day.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing chefs today?
Keeping on top of things, persevering and sourcing. Sourcing is really a challenge sometimes.

Do you have an in-house forager?
We used to, now my chefs have started to go to the market a little bit more.

What’s your number one priority in the kitchen?
I have many. To be professional all the time. To taste. That’s really important–it’s number one. To be clean, organized, efficient, and to communicate. All those are priorities. If you don’t have those, then it’s not a smooth machine. And treat the food well.

What is important for you when you are hiring your staff?
Firstly, that they know what we’re about. And to hire people that are like-minded. That’s why trails are so good, because you really get to see who they are and they get to see who you are as well. It’s less about the interview process; it’s more about the connection– whether they fit into your kitchen, whether the other people work well with them. (more…)

ICE publishes an issue of The Main Course, our school newsletter, every April. In addition to info about our programs and our recreational cooking class listings, it included an interview between Editor Kiri Tannenbaum and The Spotted Pig Chef April Bloomfield about her restaurant and her new book, A Girl and Her Pig. We’re sharing the interview here on DICED. Earlier this week, we told you about April’s experience writing the book. Now, we are sharing her thoughts on life in a successful restaurant and finding inspiration.

Your restaurants have been known to attract celebrity clientele, how does that change what goes on inside the kitchen?
Nothing. We treat them as regular customers. I don’t go to the tables. I don’t do anything special.

You’re not nervous?
I get more nervous when chefs come in, but they’re probably more celebrities than celebrities.

What about President Bill Clinton?
That was a nice experience. I got to meet him and it was nice to have that experience of him coming to your restaurant and the restaurant being very quiet when he walked in. That was kind of exciting.

You know he’s a vegan now?
That’s what I heard.

I guess he wouldn’t be eating the burger this time around?
No. Probably not. He has been in recently and I’m not going to disclose what he ate.

When you think back on when you first started out, did you ever imagine you’d be in New York City with three restaurants cooking for presidents and celebrities?
Not at all actually. I’m not one to look ahead and project what I might be doing in five or ten year’s time. I took one restaurant a year at a time, or two years at a time, and then figured out where I wanted to go. So, that was never in my future at all. (more…)

Every year, ICE publishes three issues of The Main Course, our school newsletter. In addition to info about our programs and our recreational cooking class listings, it is jammed packed with news and articles about trends and professionals making headlines. In the April edition, Editor Kiri Tannenbaum spoke with The Spotted Pig Chef April Bloomfield about her restaurant and her new book, A Girl and Her Pig. We’re sharing the interview here on DICED. First up, a look at what it’s like to take experience as a restaurant chef and translate it into a book.

British-born chef April Bloomfield has been credited with starting the “gastropub revolution” in New York City.She and restaurateur Ken Friedman launched The Spotted Pig in February of 2004 and since then the eatery has earned one star from the Michelin Guide for six consecutive years. In 2010, the duo expanded their restaurant empire inside the Ace Hotel, first with The Breslin Bar & Dining Room, and later with the John Dory Oyster Bar, which earned a glowing two-star review from The New York Times.

Even though her illustrious career seems like it was meant to be, Bloomfield accidentally fell into her career after missing an examination to begin training as a police officer. So instead she followed in her sister’s footsteps to culinary school at Birmingham College and eventually went on to cook at London’s acclaimed River Café. Under the guidance of Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, Bloomfield learned that good ingredients speak for themselves.

Nearly a decade after leaving her mentors, her first cookbook, A Girl and Her Pig hit shelves in April 2012. The Main Course met with Bloomfield upstairs at The Breslin to discuss her book endeavor, her thoughts on being a chef and restaurateur and that oh-so famous burger.

How long was your cookbook in the making?
It was a whole year to write it, to test recipes and tell the stories. It was a great experience and working with JJ [Goode] was amazing. He’s such a good writer, very talented, and we worked well together. [You can read about JJ’s career as a collaborative food writer here on DICED.]

In the foreword to the book JJ referred to you as “vegetable savant.” What do you think about that?
Did he? That’s a good thing… I think. I love cooking vegetables. They’re just fun to cook and they’re so versatile. We’re planning on doing a vegetable book together, which is very exciting. (more…)