CleverRoot

1 4 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t THERE ARE CHEFS WHO won't let anyone else touch, wash, or even sharpen their knives, which these days are often mega-expensive blades made by Japanese producers like Shun, Yoshihiro, and Misono. They're works of kitchen art worthy of a samurai warrior—or at least a top-tier sushi chef. Chef Raphael Francois of Le DeSales in Washington, D.C., and Tesse in West Hollywood, California, seems to be one of the lingering exceptions to this rule. Several of his own blades go back to his boyhood on a farm in the French countryside, and these treasured heirlooms mean so much to him that he's opted to use some of the same models on his restaurants' tables. This history seems to have informed his guiding philosophy that knives are made for daily work, not for mere admiration. Merrill Shindler: You use several knives given to you by your family when you were young. It's amazing that you still have them after all these years. Raphael Francois: They have tremendous sentimental value. There's a 10-inch Gembloux chef's knife from Belgium [that] has a wooden handle. It's from my great-grandmother. I still use it for cutting meat, but I have to be very careful with it, for the blade can corrode. I don't let others touch it. You also have a much smaller knife, which you used in the orchards around your home growing up. When I was 13, I was given an Opinel folding knife and would use it to cut ap- ples from our trees. I like it so much that it's the knife that sits on our tables— it was a great knife then, and it's a great knife now. [It's] a very old knife, also with a wooden handle. I used it in France when I was first "cheffing." Have you tried the new generation of Japanese knives? I am very old school, but the young chefs all like the Japanese knives. They are good for preparing Japanese food and for slicing fish very delicately, but they don't work for French cooking because they are too sharp, like razors. I like knives that are less sharp so I have more of a feel for what I'm doing, but my chefs all show up with Japanese knives now. A big focus at your restaurants is sourcing ingredients locally. It's a rela- tively new trend in modern American cuisine, but it's not new for you. On the farm, we had organic food before we knew what organic was. We had many fruit trees, as well as strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, and beans— what we ate was the food we grew. We got our butter and milk from farm- ers who lived near us. I use old-style ingredients prepared with old knives: They are tools we use by tradition, and they are very comfortable. I cut all day, removing meat from bones, so I need to be comfortable. Now we are so modern, but all I do is what I've always done. A Cut Above CHEF RAPHAEL FRANCOIS PUTS HIS TRUSTED BLADES TO WORK AT HIS D.C. AND CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS by Merrill Shindler TOOLS OF THE TRADE n PHOTO COURTESY OF TESSE RESTAURANT Chef Raphael Francois of Le DeSales in Washington, D.C., and Tesse in West Hollywood, California, prefers knives dating back to his adolescence over razor-sharp new models. ■cr

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