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One response to “hotsnack: what’s mine is yours – part deux”

1. 

   Bux

   September 24, 2006

   Scenario three probably happens all the time, at least when a famous chef leaves a famous restaurant. That may not happen every day, however. Daniel Boulud’s sea bass in potato crust is probably a good example. It stayed on the menu at le Cirque and appeared at Daniel without any problems–as far as I know. It’s also an example of scenario four, as Daniel Boulud always credits Bocuse for his inspiration in creating Crisp Paupiette of Sea Bass in a Barolo Sauce. I always thought that was a generous credit as well. The dish was hardly a copy of the original.
   Obviously, I’ve been giving this issue some thought. When I first started eating at the famous restaurants in France, and they were the rather undisputed top restaurants in the western world back then, The differences between meals were less about the creativity and design of the recipes than about the skill and excellence with which the classic recipes codified by Escoffier were executed.
   In time, the culinary scene changed and after the worst excesses of Nouvelle Cuisine disappeared, chefs became more known for new signature dishes. Sometimes these dishes became classics and appeared all over France, not to mention Europe and the U.S. and the chefs copying these recipes never worked at the original restaurant for the most part and were never called plagiarists. The Troisgros salmon with sorrel is a prime example. Magret de canard from Daguin is another.
   Today, we dine in a culinary world that’s undergone another change of significance. More and more, chefs are becoming known for their creativity, than for their recipes. Diners return to a restaurant, especially at the extreme end of this phenomenon, not to taste their favorite dish, but to see what the chef is currently doing. The hippest of globe trotting epicures seems to know what everyone is doing, but as you state in scenario three, “[t]he locals dub Chef B a genius because they’ve never heard of Chef A much less been across the pond.” Global coverage of the hot shots by even the most middle brow food glossies both enables the spread of these creative dishes and techniques, but it also works against the local chef getting away with being seen as a creator. At the same time, I don’t have a problem with a local chef bringing home the latest ideas to a dining clientele that can’t afford the time or money to travel so widely, so often.
   What is troubling me, is that while a number of justly famous chefs have recently left the fine restaurant whose reputation they’ve helped build, and a number of others are about to leave, I can’t think of one who’s leaving a restaurant that bears his name. That’s different than just hearing about a dispute over who owns the recipes created over the years.

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