Word: soltner
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Because he worries, Soltner almost never leaves his kitchen for publicity performances, whether to pick up an award or do demonstration cooking. He appreciates the efforts of French superstars like Paul Bocuse because he thinks they have given chefs a better place in society, but he is uneasy if he cannot oversee the kitchen and walk through his dining room to help guests order. When he has to trim costs, though, he usually does it in the dining room, choosing very simple flower arrangements (two or three roses in bud vases at most tables) and even allowing woebegone potted palms...
That mix is something Andre and his wife Simone cherish as well, and they try to seat newcomers near celebrities when possible. Soltner also takes pride in remembering what he served to each guest on each visit. "I have one couple who has come for dinner every Monday night for 18 or 20 years," he says. "They never look at a menu, and I never give them the same thing twice. Others like familiar dishes and order them in advance. I try to please them and often serve dishes like choucroute (Alsace's national dish of sauerkraut, sausages and assorted...
...wanted not a restaurant, but the restaurant. And to become famous, it had to have a short name without the word restaurant in it," he says, explaining that he finally chose Lutece from the ancient name for Paris, Lutetia. When he was making his | plans he heard of Soltner, then the chef at Chez Hansi, an Alsatian brasserie in Paris. Surmain went over, tasted Soltner's food and offered him a job with the promise of a partnership if they succeeded. "It sounded like a crazy idea, but I thought that at least I'd learn English," says Soltner...
...Lutece has changed in 25 years, so have conditions of running a restaurant. It may be easier in some ways to please customers, but in others it is more difficult. For one thing, Soltner feels, Americans have become more sophisticated and know about food and products, and he finds that rewarding. Yet a surprisingly large number of specialties remain from the original menu, among them the creamed pea soup, creme Saint-Germain, the mignonettes of beef in puff pastry, the salmon in crust, and snails in tiny terrines with shallot and garlic butter. Recently Soltner worked...
Most at home in his kitchen, Soltner starts work between 8 and 9 in the morning, checking on the ingredients delivered by suppliers. "It is pointless for me to go to market. Everything is too far apart in New York and, anyway, I would be a small purchaser, and so not get first choice. But my wholesalers are important purchasers and I am important to them, so I get the best of the best. If not, I call them fast -- like this," he said, phoning his fish wholesaler of 25 years to complain about a batch of less than fresh...