ICE publishes an issue of The Main Course, our school newsletter, every April. In addition to info about our programs and our recreational cooking class listings, it included an interview between Editor Kiri Tannenbaum and The Spotted Pig Chef April Bloomfield about her restaurant and her new book, "A Girl and Her Pig." We鈥檙e sharing the interview here on DICED. Earlier this week, we told you about April鈥檚 experience writing the book. Now, we are sharing her thoughts on life in a successful restaurant and finding inspiration.
Your restaurants have been known to attract celebrity clientele, how does that change what goes on inside the kitchen?
Nothing. We treat them as regular customers. I don鈥檛 go to the tables. I don鈥檛 do anything special.
You鈥檙e not nervous?
I get more nervous when chefs come in, but they鈥檙e probably more celebrities than celebrities.
What about President Bill Clinton?
That was a nice experience. I got to meet him and it was nice to have that experience of him coming to your restaurant and the restaurant being very quiet when he walked in. That was kind of exciting.
You know he鈥檚 a vegan now?
That鈥檚 what I heard.
I guess he wouldn鈥檛 be eating the burger this time around?
No. Probably not. He has been in recently and I鈥檓 not going to disclose what he ate.
When you think back on when you first started out, did you ever imagine you鈥檇 be in New York City with three restaurants cooking for presidents and celebrities?
Not at all actually. I鈥檓 not one to look ahead and project what I might be doing in five or 10 year鈥檚 time. I took one restaurant a year at a time, or two years at a time, and then figured out where I wanted to go. So, that was never in my future at all.
How did you wind up at The Spotted Pig?
I was working at The River Caf茅 and I got offered this job through my friend, Jamie Oliver. Even though I loved my job, I was ready to move on. I still could鈥檝e been there right now actually; I loved my job so much. But I wanted to progress and I wanted to get better and push myself and so I took the job merely to have a different life experience and to see and eat different food and to meet new people.
From where do you draw inspiration?
Oh, boy. Cookbooks, places I travel, restaurants I eat in, markets, shops, and supermarkets. When I go to a different country I like to go to their supermarket just to see what they have or go to their greenmarkets. If I happen to be in a place where I have a kitchen, then I鈥檇 obviously shop there and try to cook with their local produce.
Speaking of travel, do you have any plans to do any restaurants outside of New York?
I鈥檇 love to do one in San Francisco or Montreal. I鈥檇 also love to go back to London. But no, no plans yet. It would be hard to juggle all that.
Click here for Part Three of our interview with Chef April.
