If you fancy yourself an epicure (or even a mild food enthusiast), the name Jean-Georges Vongerichten should ring a bell. As one of the nation’s preeminent and most beloved chefs, he has spent the last 50 years honing his skills, rearing young chefs for greatness, and creating memorable menus from New York and Miami to Paris and Tokyo. As luck would have it, The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville is home to two Jean-Georges restaurants — The Pink Hermit, a cozy and casual all-day café and wine bar, and Drusie & Darr, a sophisticated culinary venue that boasts the revolutionary chef’s signature fine-dining flair.
We caught up with the Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning Jean-Georges during his recent trip to Nashville, during which he implemented the brand new (and extraordinary!) spring menu at Drusie & Darr, absorbed the energy of Music City, and visited a few renowned local chefs to extend his mutual admiration and inspiration. We sat down with the charming and unpretentious Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten to discuss nostalgic childhood food memories, the spring menu, his affinity for Nashville, and more!
Chef Jean-Georges is a culinary icon, and The Hermitage Hotel boasts two of his 60 restaurants! Image: The Hermitage Hotel
What is your earliest childhood memory surrounding food, and how did your upbringing inspire your culinary style?
This is going to sound crazy, but crushed banana with orange juice on top. It’s my first memory of sweet and sour — an exotic memory. It’s stuck in my head.
When I go home to see my mom now (she’s 90 years old), I give her a list of the stuff I grew up with [to cook for me]. She cooks for everybody; she’s never alone. She’ll say, “Oh, you guys don’t call me; you’re in America, and I’m alone in Strasbourg.” And I can hear her friends yapping around, having a tea party, or whatever. She has a party every day. She’s still baking and cooking.
Coming from Alsace in the northeast part of France, there was a very German influence. Alsace is between Germany and France. The food was a little bland — mostly German dishes but also some French dishes. When you live on the border, the food is potato, cabbage, and lots of pork. That’s what I grew up with. Simple dishes. A pot with pork, potatoes, onions, and white wine cooked forever; it was family-style food. We’d put the pot on the table, and everybody would dig in. That’s the way I like to eat today — family style. Rich but comforting.
We never went to restaurants. Food was at home. It was still a time when families were living three generations under the same roof. I grew up with my grandparents in the house. Today, you don’t see that anymore. Everybody knew what to do in the kitchen; everyone had a role.
What was your role in the kitchen growing up?
I was the “enfant terrible.” I was told to behave. I wasn’t in the kitchen; I was entertaining my friends and brothers and sisters and cousins. And that’s still what it is today. A restaurant is to entertain, and Nashville is a big entertaining town.
“I was born in 1957, and I started cooking at 16, in 1973,” Chef Jean-Georges tells us. “This is my 50th year of cooking, and I’m just warming up!” Image: The Hermitage Hotel
How did you land in Nashville? What made you choose The Hermitage Hotel for several of your restaurants?
It started with befriending the Hardie family. I knew someone in New York who started working with Molly and Robert Hardie, and they asked us to open a restaurant at a hotel in Keswick. So we did that, and then they said, “We like your style and what you’re doing. We own The Hermitage in Nashville, and we’d love for you to have a restaurant there.” So I said, “Ok, let me visit.” I visited, and I fell in love with it. The energy, the food, the people coming from everywhere … it’s a magical city. The sound of it, the music …
The dining space at Drusie & Darr offers a clean, classic backdrop for Chef’s gorgeous, vibrant dishes. Image: Alyssa Rosenheck
The bar is perfect for cocktails and cozy conversation. But be sure to order the tuna tartare, too! Image: Alyssa Rosenheck
Where are your favorite places to dine in Nashville when you aren’t at your own restaurants?
Well, it has to be late because we work until 10 p.m., but we just went to Rolf and Daughters. And Sean Brock was just here celebrating his birthday; he wants us to go to Audrey. I’m in! So, I’ll go see his lab, have a drink, and try some new things. I can go back to New York with a 20-year-old recipe, or I can go back with 40 new ideas.
What do you love most about the South?
The hospitality is well-known for a reason. People are nice. It’s almost unreal because, in New York, they’re tough. I could move here in a minute, but my life is in New York. Maybe for my retirement … in 50 years! I’m halfway there.
What are some of your favorite Southern dishes or ingredients?
Of course, the fried chicken is classic. It’s what you read about in all the old American books. Mac and cheese, banana cream pie — all of that was created here. This is real America. In New York, real America is Chinatown, the Greek Area, Italian … Here, people are from everywhere, but it’s very specific in terms of flavors and ingredients.
The spring menu is bursting with fresh, seasonal ingredients and an outstanding depth of flavor. For the perfect ending to your dining experience, try this tart Passion Fruit Baked Alaska — an exquisite, melt-in-your-mouth dish that will make you swoon. Image: Jenna Bratcher
Do you have particular ingredients that you love to use in your Southern menus?
Everything. Whatever’s grown locally, from collard greens to green tomatoes. I use a lot of spices and heat. Chilis are my passion — I was in Thailand in 1980 for two years. And Singapore and Hong Kong. The first bite you eat has to be as exciting as the last bite.
A lot of chefs don’t eat their own food. If you sit down with your own dish, you know what’s missing — if it needs a little more acidity or heat. Eating the first bite is easy, but finishing the dish … so I eat my own food. I come up with a lot of ideas for things and taste things, but actually creating a dish and eating it from A to Z is different. If you stop halfway, you know something is missing. It took me a long time to learn that.
“Eating your own food is important,” says Chef. “If you don’t eat it twice or want to finish it, something’s up. Go back to the drawing board.” Image: The Hermitage Hotel
What can we look forward to on the new Drusie & Darr spring menu?
When we create the spring menu, we make a list of ingredients first: peas, asparagus, rhubarb … things that come from the earth. We’re bringing our sweet pea soup back because people ask for it. It has a parmesan foam on top. We have some asparagus with locally foraged mushroom vinaigrette, served warm. I never chill my asparagus. Peel them, keep them whole, put them in boiling water with salt, or roast them in the oven with olive oil, but don’t put them in the fridge.
A lot of restaurants cook the asparagus in the morning. They blanch them in water and chill them in ice water or put them in the fridge. They lose their flavor. Put them in the water just before you serve them! They take a few minutes to cook and come out steaming hot. If you sear fish ahead of time, you lose the flavor. If you chop an onion ahead, you lose the fragrance. I do everything at the last second; I’m against prepping ahead. We don’t cook something until you order it. It’s the same thing [when I cook] at home. Once you understand the freshness and seasonality of things, cooking is easy. Some people panic. You don’t have to make things ahead.
If we could only choose one dish from the new spring menu, which one is not-to-be-missed?
Probably the sweet pea soup I was talking about. And the tuna tartare with ginger dressing! And crispy sushi with salmon. Some things we keep on the menu, but in the summer, it will be a lot of tomatoes and corn … I love vegetables.
We have a lot of fresh, vibrant dishes. We also have a new pizza with four cheeses and lemon. It has julienned Moroccan lemon rind, and then we put fresh Meyer lemon on top. Lemon and cheese go well together. On a pizza, they’d probably throw me out of Italy, but in Nashville, it works!
One of the stars of the Drusie & Darr spring menu: Seared Black Sea Bass with caramelized carrots and turmeric-lemon emulsion. Image: Jenna Bratcher
What is the one ingredient you could never live without?
Chilis. I need a little bit of heat. Ginger is my number two. You can put ginger in tea, on raw fish … we have a ginger margarita on the menu. It’s a very versatile ingredient. It’s a little hot, and the fragrance is amazing.
What is the best piece of advice you can give young, aspiring chefs and restaurateurs?
Cook with passion and all your senses. Some people don’t cook what they like to eat, so they don’t have passion. It’s difficult because, on a menu, you have to have something for everyone.
To curate a menu isn’t easy because you have to please everyone at the table. That’s why we have a section on the [Drusie & Darr] menu called “simply cooked.” Sometimes people don’t want to eat a composed dish by the chef. They want a roasted chicken or simply grilled steak. Sometimes you’re in the mood for plain: a sea bass or salmon with just some lemon and olive oil. Sometimes they’re like, “I don’t want to eat your genius.” In the end, I’m here to please people. As a young chef, you have to please! If you don’t want to please, you should leave the business right now.
What are your favorite sources of inspiration?
People, markets, cities, youth, old people, knowledge, life. All of it.
Thank you for the interview, Chef. Please keep giving us ALL the genius. We’re here for it!
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