Self-taught to multiple three Michelin starred restaurants
Thomas Keller is the first and only American chef to have two restaurants, The French Laundry and Per Se, earn three Michelin stars concurrently. The French Laundry was also the first restaurant to place first twice in the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. While Keller did grow up around food, his mother was a restauranteur; he did not have a traditional culinary background.
He attended Palm Beach Junior College for a year before dropping out to learn more by working at restaurants. In 1974, he started his career cooking at the Palm Beach Yacht Club. Four years later, he opened his first restaurant, the Cobbley Nob, which had to be closed after a year due to a lack of customers. For the next six years, he worked at many restaurants, including in France, which let him learn as much as possible. At one point, for three years, he applied to restaurants all over France before being accepted into one.
In 1994, he became the chef and owner of The French Laundry after finding over 60 investors to help buy the restaurant. That September, the restaurant would receive the first of its many accolades, a four-star rating from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Quotes
There was a 14-year-old telling me I didn't know how to peel a turnip,...I learned modesty. I was 26 years old and realized I was seeing the big picture.
Thomas Keller
References
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Biography
He is the first and only American-born chef to hold multiple three-star ratings from the prestigious Michelin Guide, as well as the first American male chef to be designated a Chevalier of The French Legion of Honor.
Thomas Keller
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Thomas Keller
In 2017, Keller and Team USA secured the ultimate victory, winning the Gold Medal for the United States for the first time in the competition’s 30-year history.
Academy of Achievement
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On the Road to Acclaim, a Chef Learns Lessons in Humility
The chef learned to cook as a child, helping to peel vegetables at the restaurants in Florida where his mother was a dining-room manager. He studied psychology in college but became a full-time chef when his mother was desperate for a replacement for a chef who had quit without notice. He learned how to cook prime rib of beef over the phone, consulting with his older brother, Joseph, who was already a chef.
The New York Times
