Julien Asseo #InTheKitchen
DLXVRSN: You’ve officially been the restaurant’s Executive Chef for about six months. How is it so far? JULIEN ASSEO: Great. It is a big challenge. It’s a big name to represent. You always have to be 100 percent to make sure the name of Guy Savoy is well represented. I am getting good feedback. Everyone has been very supportive and they do want to see me succeed! I’m really happy and thankful for the team I have because without them, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I have to try to emphasize the fact that the success of this restaurant is built upon the team effort, and the strength of the team as one. DLXVRSN: Do you think you were born to be a chef? JA: I don’t know if there is such a thing as being born a chef. I love to eat. I’m a glutton. Food is almost a drug: I get so excited around food. At a very young age, my mother would always cook for us, so I got very lucky to always have a home-cooked meal. She wasn’t a chef, but…we ate great every day. It made me think food is good. (I was a chubby kid.) I think when I asked myself at 15 what I wanted to do, [I thought] ‘I love cars and I love food.’ I’m French, and in my teen years, I was kind of rebellious and decided to move back to France. I went to school and to be on my own. DLXVRSN: At 16 years old, what was your dream? JA: To be honest, the dream to this day is to have my own place. Where exactly? I’m not set on it, but I’ve been wanting to go back to California. That’s where I grew up, and my family lives there, and I miss the countryside. It’s been the goal and it still is. But in between that, I’ve achieved another goal: being at the helm of such a prestigiously named restaurant. I only started cooking fine dining about 6 years ago. I worked more in a brasserie in France [which]
helped me because it was so hands on. That really fortified my passion and wanting to continue on that path. And then the discovery of the glory of fine dining—first at Joël Robuchon and now here. I thought, ‘Wow! This is what I like and I’m good at it.’
ther taught me to respect what the area gives you; same with our food ingredients. More and more I’m getting into [the wine pairing] and I’m lucky to be working with sommelier Phil Park, who is really talented and a passionate guy, like me. It makes our lives easier because we just have the same understanding, and a lot of times, I get feedback from the guests saying how great the pairing of the wine and food was. I can relate to that because there were certain times in my life when you have a special pairing and it just wows you.
DLXVRSN: Do you remember the first meal you ever made? JA: Probably a meal I made for one of my best friends. I was still living in California and it was after school and sometimes I would cook for him. It was a self-taught kind of thing. I remember, maybe, a good sautéed chicken with bell peppers and good rice? I loved discovering flavors and seasonings. DLXVRSN: You are now an Executive Chef. Are you humble? DLXVRSN: What is your fondest mem- JA: Yes! You have to be. That’s one of ory growing up? the biggest qualities to have. You have JA: Being surrounded by nature. I grew to stay true to yourself and not become up on a vineyard, so it wasn’t restrict- someone else just because you have a ed in space. Growing up surrounded by title and a jacket. trees, nature, water sources…it was just beautiful. It was a very clean place to I’m a cook, and I realize becoming a grow up. I had a great youth. And I got chef is whole other thing. You have to to make wine! manage the restaurant. You can make good food but if you can’t run a busiDLXVRSN: What did you learn about ness, it won’t work. winemaking? JA: Wine is very representative of DLXVRSN: You have a face for TV. Is where it comes from. The terroir. My fa- there a TV career in your future?
Understated Elegance at Guy Savoy DLXVRSN Magazine | 37