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Jean-Louis at the Watergate
| Article
# : |
20135 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1992 |
2,363 Words |
| Author
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Celeste McCall
Caleste McCall writes on food and restaurants for the
Washington Times. |
Watching Jean-Louis Palladin ply his craft is not unlike observing a painter, sculptor, or conductor at work. While these artists wield paintbrush, chisel, and baton to express their creativity, Palladin uses finely honed knives and other kitchen implements, and especially his fingers, to create his art.
Jean-Louis' studio is his restaurant-Jean-Louis-at-the-Watergate--where a typical day's work, Orin Palladin's case, an evening's work, begins around 5 P.M. when he writes the prix fixe menu by hand. His French is translated and typewritten in English.
Only hours earlier does Palladin know precisely what he will prepare on any given evening. He cooks according to the seasons, using only the best, freshest ingredients, which he purchases daily.
By 5:45 P.M., the tiny, forty-nine-seat restaurant is already three-quarters full; patrons are savoring a repast before heading for the Kennedy Center nearby. At the restaurant's front desk, a hostess fields calls. A cancellation opens up a table for 9 P.M.
Tonight there is added work. In addition to his restaurant patrons, Palladin is preparing a dinner for ten in a private room upstairs.
The kitchen is gearing up. It's amazingly small, and the Vulcan stove looks quite antiquated. Yet, Palladin's staff of seven or eight perform a synchronized ballet. Things might seem hectic--organized chaos is what it looks like to me--but the how must go on, and the performance, by all accounts, is always superb.
Palladin arrives at his post around 6:30 P.M. Tall and lanky, he moves as if his joints were made of rubber. His dark wavy hair, which he once wore in a ponytail, is now stylishly trimmed. Brown eyes peer from behind spectacles. He is very much in charge, barking out orders in a mixture of French, English, and Spanish.
For this busy evening, some food has been prepared in advance. Palladin begins his work by slicing several pieces of sirloin into perfect oval medallions. He arranges them on a bed of grated cabbage like an artist laying mosaics into wet plaster. A wisp of dill sets off each plate.
As he begins a salad, Palladin carefully rubs a little cayenne onto the plate, which makes it look like
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