What Chef Eric Ripert Really Thinks Of Best Friend Anthony Bourdain’s Cooking
We speak to him ahead of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards ceremony in Singapore.
We speak to him ahead of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards ceremony in Singapore.
Who exactly is Eric Ripert? You may recognise the French-born New York-based chef from shows like Top Chef, Chef’s Table and Parts Unknown. Or perhaps you might’ve been lucky enough to have dined at his three-Michelin-star seafood restaurant Le Bernardin in Manhattan (we did about a decade ago). But what you are most likely to know however, is that Eric was the late Anthony Bourdain’s close friend. It was the 54-year-old who found the former-chef-turned TV star Anthony unresponsive in his hotel room in France over a year ago, on June 8, 2018, where they were filming an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. The two shared a 20-year bromance ever since Anthony wrote about his admiration for Ripert in his breakout 2001 memoir: 'Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In the Culinary Underbelly'. “I called him and said, 'I read your book, and I would love to know you. Would you come for lunch?' That was the first time I met Anthony, and we have been friends ever since,” Ripert reminisced to Hamptons Magazine.
Since then, Eric has been a regular guest on Anthony’s shows: from A Cook’s Tour in 2002 to the most recent Parts Unknown. “Anthony was my best friend. An exceptional human being, so inspiring & generous. One of the great storytellers who connected with so many. I pray he is at peace from the bottom of my heart”, he wrote last year.
Eric is in Singapore for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony, which coincidentally, falls on 25 June, Tuesday. We catch up with the Frenchman last night at Marina Bay Sands, after he participated in a talk with other celebrated chefs like Massimo Bottura (whose restaurant Osteria Francescana in Italy was ranked #1 on last year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list). We accosted him for this super brief interview (we weren't granted an official interview by his minders), as he was thronged with food groupies snapping selfies with him and members of his team who kept pulling him away from us and our pesky recording device. To think we saw him at Le Bernardin in New York all those years ago and never bothered to chat. It's evident the chef's star has risen exponentially with his constant appearances on the small screen.
8 DAYS: It’s your third time in Singapore. What’s a must-eat whenever you’re in town?
ERIC RIPERT: Chilli crab! I go to this place where Anthony Bourdain used to love to visit all the time. It’s a family business, I have pictures of it but can’t remember its name. [Ed: It’s Keng Eng Kee Seafood at Bukit Merah].
Photo: KEK Seafood Alexandra, Facebook
Chef Eric and José Andrés, who’s also in Singapore for the World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards, dined at KEK a coupla days ago.
Photo: KEK Seafood Alexandra, Facebook
The topic at the World’s 50 Best Talks is kitchen karma. Is there anything you regret doing in the past?
Yes, of course. I regret being irrational to my team, and that’s something that I cannot change because those years are gone. Back then, I terrorised them, threw tantrums and threw plates when the food wasn’t done right. I was basically acting the same way my mentors did when I was younger. It was the culture back then — you break people mentally so they learn how to become champions. School teachers in France pulled our hair and kicked us in the butt. Maybe how it was in restaurants was just an extension of real life. But then, good people starting leaving [my kitchen] and I asked myself why I was feeling so lousy? It’s not right; you’re not supposed to humiliate people. Anger is a weakness. But that was a long time ago — I’m happy that I woke up and I changed.
Was it tough trying to be nice in the kitchen after being a, well, mean chef?
It was hard at first, ’cos I trained my sous chefs to be as mean as I was. Like how my mentors treated me. So everyday, I meditate. I have a Tibetan monk who comes to my house weekly to teach [me]. I take what I learn and transfer it through a secular message to my kitchen team. They seem to be taking it well.
You’re a devout Buddhist, the religion is about not being attached to things. How do you reconcile that with being involved in competitive, stressful restaurant rankings?
Ah, I do not think about that at all, and I’m teaching my team not to be focused on it too. I will give you a quick analogy: it’s like if you are an actor, and you keep thinking about winning an Oscar while on the set filming a movie. But you cannot win the Oscar because you are [too busy obsessing over winning and] not focusing on acting. So in the kitchen, when you go to work and if you’re thinking about the 50 Best Restaurant list or Michelin star all the time, then you’re not thinking about what you are supposed to do. And therefore you will not be giving your best.
Your restaurant Le Bernardin has won three Michelin stars for 14 consecutive years. It was #26 on last year’s World’s Best Restaurants list. Do you fear losing all of these accolades one day?
I’m not afraid of anything. Everything is about balance — Buddhism teaches that, and one day my restaurant will change. And when I’m old, maybe I’ll retire, maybe not. I don’t know. But I’m not afraid of the future — it’s natural evolution.
You and chef Andre Jose declared 25 June (tomorrow) #BourdainDay. Anthony Bourdain was your best friend — how will you commemorate him?
I will cheer my friend wherever he is, and I hope everybody will do the same. Then we’ll put #BourdainDay on social media, and it will bring everyone together to celebrate his legacy and what he has done for us.
Anthony died a year ago, and you found him. Has that day changed you in any way?
(Icily) What happened a year ago is something very personal — and I don’t share it with the media.
Photo: @ericripert, Instagram
Understood. What was the last great meal that you had with Anthony?
(Softens and smiles) We had so many meals together and it’s hard to recall. I think maybe when we went to China is when he had the most fun [eating] with me, having Sichuan hotpot. Because it was spicy, delicious and addictive but at the same time, very, very painful for me.
Has Anthony ever cooked for you?
Yes, many times. His food was delicious; he was an amazing cook.
He loved you.
I was a great fan of him. We are (pauses)... we were good friends.
Photo: @ericripert, Instagram
I teach new student @ericripert the fine points of Yu Xiang Rou Si or fish fragrant pork to the bemusement of the class. #Chengdu , wisecracked Anthony on this Instagram post back in 2016.
Photo: @anthonybourdain, Instagram
Look out for our coverage of the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards ceremony tomorrow.
Selected photos: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
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