Nightline Platelist: Homage to Thomas Keller

Chef Thomas Keller has earned several accolades over the past decade for his French-American cuisine.

(Courtesy of Deborah Jones)

Pressure to Be the Best

One of Keller's biggest pressures is to remain consistent everyday, giving his patrons "very high quality service, very high quality environment, very high quality cuisine so that their entire experience is one that they will remember."

The required "100 percent commitment" is, in Keller's eyes, the only potentially negative aspect about the restaurant industry.

"Being committed to the restaurant industry and a restaurant itself is a lot; it's a lifestyle; it's a 16, 17 hour a day job and you need to be committed to that restaurant; you need to embrace that lifestyle if you want to really be successful at it. So I don't know if that's a negative as much as it is something you're sacrificing and I believe sacrifice is a good thing. I think we all make sacrifices for things that we want to do and things that we want."

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The sacrifice is worth it, however, because Keller says "everyday is a new day." But also because he enjoys the emotional connections that happen around the dinner table.

"It's a moment for people to gather together around the dinner table and exchange the stories of the day or talk about their love for one another or have generally a good time. Just having that moment with people," he said. "And I think that is one of the basic pleasures of human nature – sit with your family, your friends, your loved ones and experience a wonderful meal. It doesn't always have to be a great meal, but I tell you, the people around the table make the meal."

He says it's also an emotional experience for the chef. "Food to me is a vehicle to express an emotional, an emotional connection to somebody. And certainly for me as a chef cooking for somebody that I know is really a wonderful experience – to see a smile on that person's face because you know that person," he said. "Cooking for somebody you don't know gives us an opportunity to get to know that person. So, either way, I think the experience for us as cooks and for me as a chef, is one that connects with people and I think that is the most important thing about cooking."