![\"His](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/922ff8c59f83ac2d02575c7b1133e4fc98-22-thomaskeller.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n His need to nurture, eat chicken livers, and the ineffecient Buddha in his bedroom.
\n Photo: Andrew Barris\n <\/p>\n
\u201cDo you really like it on me?\u201d asked Thomas Keller sincerely, of a $30K rose-gold watch encircling his fuzzy, tanned wrist, on loan from Vacheron Constantin. Grub assured him it looked very handsome. \u201cNot too feminine?\u201d Nooo, chef Keller, very manly. \u201cOkay, because I usually only wear silver, so this is a new experience for me.\u201d Yeah, well, the experience of spending an evening at one of New York\u2019s most sprawling, Gossip Girl\u2013like mansions, lounging around a kitchen with Keller (who is, on the record, easier to talk to than a well-paid shrink) was kind of new to us, too. The private dinner, hosted by Vacheron Constantin\u2019s CEO Juan Carlos Torres, honored the brand\u2019s first ever New York boutique. The connection between chefs and watches? \u201cWe are control freaks. Precision is everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be direct: Why are you so perfect?
The only reason I can be this way is because I have these young individuals who are as dedicated as I am. [He points to his team of ten or so.]<\/p>\n
Is there a Grant Achatz in there?
Well, Grant comes along once in a generation. But Eli Kaimeh, who\u2019s at Per Se right now, or Timothy Hollingsworth, who took over for Corey Lee, or Corey Lee himself. There are too many to name, honestly.<\/p>\n
But your nice disposition, that\u2019s from inside \u2026
Eric Ripert gave me a Buddha once years ago; it\u2019s in my bedroom, so maybe that\u2019s rubbed off on me? I don\u2019t know. It doesn\u2019t help me get any more sleep, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n
Do you ever snap?
Sure. I was a little mad earlier today. We\u2019ve been trying to launch this Finesse app for months. Apple has kicked it back three times for unknown reasons. It was supposed to launch today and there was another setback, so I was upset.<\/p>\n
What does an angry Thomas Keller look like?
I cut people short, I say how disappointed I am, and people quickly understand. When you think about what a chef does, it\u2019s all about a flow. So, when anything interrupts that flow, you get upset. The person who gets in your way, who breaks the dish or forgets the order, that\u2019s the person that\u2019s going to get the brunt of the frustration. But then it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n
Pretend you\u2019re a regular guy: What\u2019s your dream New York night?
Going to either Yankee Stadium or CitiField and watching a baseball game, eating a hot dog, and drinking a beer. That\u2019s a perfect night.<\/p>\n
And a night out as a chefy guy?
Oh, I\u2019d go to Yakitori Totto, sit at the bar, and eat the chicken livers, which are amazzzing \u2014 if you get there before they run out. Or I\u2019ll always love Cafe Boulud with Gavin Kaysen. Or I\u2019ll go to Marea and have crudo at the bar, and have sea urchin with the lardo over it, and then a bowl of the fusilli with the red-wine-braised octopus and bone marrow, and a glass of Brunello or something. I also love Giorgione downtown; I have the fava-bean salad, lamb chops, and a slice cheesecake, every time.<\/p>\n
Where will you be ten years from now?
Hopefully I\u2019ll be on a beach somewhere. I don\u2019t know. I hope that I\u2019ll have the same feeling of excitement, the same feeling of nourishing people that I have today. I learned a long time ago that I\u2019m a nurturer. I like to give people pleasure in any way I can, weather it\u2019s my team or my guests. [A cocktail waitress then sails by, wearing a diamond Vacheron Constantin watch.] Hey, I\u2019ll trade you all the food in the world for that watch\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
His need to nurture, eat chicken livers, and the ineffecient Buddha in his bedroom. Photo: Andrew Barris \u201cDo you really like it on me?\u201d asked Thomas Keller sincerely, of a $30K rose-gold watch encircling his fuzzy, tanned wrist, on loan from Vacheron Constantin. Grub assured him it looked very handsome. \u201cNot too feminine?\u201d Nooo, chef<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1443],"tags":[1454,6181,6180],"class_list":["post-5733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-thomas-keller","tag-thomas-keller","tag-vacheron-constantin","tag-worship"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117211799463473130","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}