Chef Waltuck sticks to classic French techniques

By Richard Leong

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Despite growing up in the Bronx and more than three decades in the restaurant business in Manhattan, American chef David Waltuck's cuisine is grounded in classic French techniques.

The owner, along with his wife Karen, of the famed New York restaurant Chanterelle, has weathered a fair share of struggles since it opened in 1979.

At the time New York City nearly buckled under a fiscal crisis, and more than two decades later the downtown restaurant survived the Sept 11 attacks on the World Trade Center which was not far away.

Through it all, Waltuck's creative, French-inspired cuisine has garnered awards and a devoted following. It also formed the basis for his latest cookbook "Chanterelle: The Story and Recipes of a Restaurant Classic".

He spoke to Reuters about his passion for French cooking.

Q: How has your cuisine evolved?

A: "It has not changed that much. I've gotten better with what I do. The essence of it hasn't changed. I'm basically self-taught. I'm still very French-oriented. There has been more of an opening to Asian ingredients and Middle Eastern ingredients, which I didn't use when I first started."

Q: By incorporating elements from other cuisines to your French-based cooking, is it fusion cooking?

A: "I wouldn't call it fusion at all. If I use lemon-grass, soy sauce, ginger or couscous, it's always from a French aesthetic."

Q: What is it about French cooking that appeals to you?

A: "It is well thought out. There is also the mentality in French cooking that codifies everything. It's good to have rules and a diagrammatic approach to sauces like mother sauces and breakdown to other sauces. Even if you don't follow that, it's nice to have that in your mind. It's a way of thinking about food and that's appealing to me."

Q: Describe your relationship with your wife Karen.

A: "There is a classic idea of a restaurant which is a husband and wife enterprise: one is in the kitchen and the other is in front of the house. That's what we do, and it has worked out perfectly for us."

Q; How did 9/11 affect Chanterelle?

A: "At that time, we had two restaurants -- Chanterelle and a bistro which we eventually sold. We were closed for a couple of weeks. There was burning for months. The smell was intense. Everyone was worried about his health being affected. It was definitely tough. It definitely changed the neighborhood. I think it's totally back now."