David Burke, the New York-based celebrity chef, has selected Matt O’Neill to lead the kitchen at his forthcoming Aspen, Colo., restaurant, David Burke Kitchen.
The restaurant is modeled after Burke’s location at the James Hotel in New York, and will also include a lounge called Huckleberry Hall. The 350-seat venue is scheduled to open in time for Aspen’s next ski season, which begins Thanksgiving weekend. The project, originally scheduled to open in January, has been delayed due to a lawsuit with general contractor Centaur Construction of Chicago.
O’Neill is a veteran of the kitchens of another New York celebrity chef, Daniel Boulud. He discussed Burke’s new restaurant and the challenges of being a chef with Nation’s Restaurant News.
How did Burke find you?
I was working at Ajax Tavern [in Aspen]. David actually came in and ate at my restaurant and loved the food.
What have you been doing since the opening of David Burke Kitchen has been delayed?
We planned on opening in winter of last year, so the menu’s done. I’ve been working on charity events and going back and forth to New York. I was there for about three weeks helping with the opening of Fabrick [in June].
What is on the menu at David Burke Kitchen?
We’re still going to keep some David Burke signatures, but now that he’s kind of moved on from the day-to-day operations of the company, it’s given the executive chefs a little more freedom to put their own twist on things. Being in Aspen, it’s a different demographic from David Burke Kitchen in SoHo. So we’ll have a little mountain food, you could call it.
Elk?
Exactly. We’ve got an elk carpaccio on there. And I’m really pushing the farm-to-table aspect of it. For quite some time, I’ve [had] relationships with the local farmers, and I’ve really been able to communicate with them the needs of the season. So they will grow a row of certain vegetables for me to keep up with the volume we had at Ajax. I feel that we’re going to be a lot busier than that [at David Burke Kitchen]. It’s going to be the largest restaurant in Aspen.
How many seats?
In total, with Huckleberry Hall, 350 seats.
What sort of farm-to-table products can you get up here in the mountains with such a short growing season?
It’s a challenge. The turnover for vegetables is a lot faster. In New York you could have asparagus for two months. Here, it’s about three weeks, so you’ve really got to stay in communication.
What do you do in the winter?
We’ll definitely be doing a lot of canning, pickling, jarring, making sure we can preserve some summer and fall vegetables. But a lot of people have hot houses now, so you can even get your salad greens grown locally, and a lot of proteins are local as well … elk, bison. My buddy Jack the farmer has cornered the yak market. I haven’t tried it yet, but maybe we’ll dive into that a little bit.
How about Colorado lamb?
Oh yeah. That’s all over the place. It’s a lot more approachable than the New Zealand stuff, which is a little more gamy and leaner. People like the Colorado a lot better.
Are there fruits and vegetables that you think are uniquely delicious in the Colorado area?
Definitely the Olathe corn is one of my favorites, and Palisade peaches. You know, I lived in Georgia, but I don’t think I’ve had a better peach anywhere than here. Right now it’s cherry season. Bing cherries and Rainier cherries are gorgeous now. I’ve been surprised how much fruit is around here. A lot of it comes from Paonia [Colo.], which is about two hours away. This valley’s a little drier, and with the elevation you can’t grow as much as fast. The snow melts out there [in Paonia] a little better.
The life of a chef
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How did you end up in Aspen?
With the former chef at the Little Nell [in Aspen], Robert McCormick. I’ve been with him for about eight years, traveling around. We opened Bar Boulud in New York City together. Then after that we opened a little boulangerie and bistro in Wellfleet in Cape Cod, [Mass.] He left to come to the Little Nell and he offered me the job at Ajax Tavern [which is now owned by the Little Nell]. He’s been a big mentor to me as far as management goes. I learned to cook from Daniel, and he’s shown me how to run a profitable kitchen.
You grew up in New York?
I grew up in Poughkeepsie, went to culinary school in Vermont and moved to New York City to further my career.
The Culinary Institute of America is practically in Poughkeepsie. Why did you go to Vermont?
The CIA didn’t really appeal to me. NECI [the New England Culinary Institute] was like seven people in a class, one teacher, you’re working in kitchens, not sitting in a big auditorium. I learn better just by doing. It was a little more expensive but I definitely got more out of it.
NECI’s more expensive than the CIA?
At the time I think CIA was $45,000 and NECI was $60,000 for two years — basically one year, since you do two six month internships. It wasn’t cheap.
And then you get a job cooking for $9 an hour.
I was making six bucks an hour. That was when the minimum wage was $6.10. I told the chef, ‘I can’t live on this.’ He was like, ‘You want to be here?’
So how did you live on that?
My girlfriend at the time helped out. She actually got two jobs, and they worked me 16 hours a day, six days a week. I know that’s not the way anymore, but then it was. We were there at 8 o’clock in the morning until 1 a.m.
Well, if you were being paid hourly…
Back then they wouldn’t really pay us for all the hours we worked.
They paid you per shift.
Exactly, but that’s also kind of gone by the wayside.
So how did you pay your debts?
I definitely was not able to keep up, but I took deferments and now I’m able to pay them off. I’ve probably got another 10 years to go, but it’s building credit for me.
It seems so hard for chefs when they graduate from cooking school.
It’s very romantic watching the Food Network. It’s so cool with the fire and flames, but that’s not the case. It’s a rough life.
And when you get out of culinary school you’re not ready to be a chef, you’re ready to start training to be a line cook.
Exactly. You still don’t know anything. I thought coming out [of culinary school], since I’d been cooking since I was 14, I got this. My first day in Daniel’s kitchen, I didn’t know anything.
Your first job was at Daniel?
Pretty much. I got there, got my foot in the door, was making pasta all day long, one type in one room, by myself. Then I moved through the ranks to junior sous chef, opened a restaurant for him — the Inn at Little West 12th. He was consulting for it. Then about four months later they wanted to change the menu. They wanted fried chicken and spaghetti and meatballs, and Daniel was furious. One day on a Saturday night, he came down to the kitchen and said ‘Everybody get out. We’re done. I’ve got jobs for all of you, but we’re leaving.’ And we were like, ‘O.K., yes, chef.’ We just walked. Then we did Bar Boulud after that.
How do you like Aspen?
I love it. I travel around a lot and I like my lifestyle here. I get to go fly-fishing before work or play a little golf. Before [at Ajax Tavern], I got to ski right into work, so that was kind of nice. And I like my off seasons. We push hard during the season — as you can see this week is probably one of the busiest. Then we have music festivals [in the summer]. September’s really busy with weddings.
Then Thanksgiving’s the opening day of the mountain [for skiing], but we don’t really get busy until Christmas week.
Do you plan on staying in here?
Yeah, I don’t really plan on going anyplace else.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
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