it's all about sharing

Once when Dave was traveling for work, I surprised him upon his return with the Bouchon cookbook and all the ingredients to make the Bouchon macaroons - a notoriously difficult (or impossible?) recipe to replicate in a normal kitchen. I think that the intimidation factor is strong, and the level of commitment required is high enough that it has been months and we have yet to even try! We have however made his simple roast chicken several times (page xii).

I bring this up now because I had the good fortune of having chef Thomas Keller (of the French Laundry) sign our copy this week. Check it out below - "it's all about sharing" is what he wrote to Dave. He's got a pretty great signature.

When talking to the crowd, Thomas Keller spoke of how he became a celebrity chef - discussing the traits he thought contributed to his sucess (ritual and repetition) and the failures that built character (his restaurant Rakel in NYC in the 1980s). He said "act like it's yours, and one day it will be" - and this struck a chord with me. I interpretted to be about taking ownership and responsibility for your work, while also showing respect. I like this perspective.

Now maybe I will finally get the courage to try to bake macaroons - and not be discouraged that while Thomas was signing the book, he said it was one of the most difficult recipes... hmmm...