Anybody got a light? Paul Sale

Art Culinaire,  Winter, 2003  

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Seems every New Yorker was asking this question Thursday, August 14, 2003 when the power went out. Art Culinaire was no better off. Away from New Jersey headquarters, we too were in Manhattan--midtown to be precise, midway through a photo shoot with Executive Chef Paul Sale.

The scene: Bluefin at the W Hotel, Times Square. You know it not by the giant cup of noodles, electronic stock tape, billboards or other larger-than-life ornamentation, but by its quiet repose. The ice cube-shaped space is tucked neatly in its own corner rectangle of 47th and Broadway. It's futuristic, even lounge-like. There's revelry behind those still- revealing blue-tinted windows. Groovy, indeed.

So too is Paul Sale who speaks of that improbable August day, "You know, I wasn't really worried. I was more worried about the fourth shot--the oxtail was getting cold! You just have to go with the flow, you know?"

He speaks against the backdrop of a piped-in techno beat. The W Hotel has a thousand song selections programmed throughout a day. So depending on the hour, say at dinner, when business heats up, so does the samba. And when the crowds thin at Bluefin, the tempo slows. It's the kind of pace Paul Sale likes--especially when he has 600 or 800 on the books talk about knowing how to dance.

AC met up with Paul, devoted sous chef Eric Woods (who patterns his career jumps to Paul's, claiming he is "not a stalker"), and a new oxtail a couple days after the blackout. According to Paul, business was "a little slow."

"Just 400. It's cool--no problem." Paul throws his head forward and laughs hard.

The British-born chef is a quietly confident young man, who at age 16 was introduced to a real cook's tour--peeling potatoes, washing pots and pans, stewarding and waiting on officers in the Merchant British Navy.

"Work-wise I didn't take much from the experience. It was more of a lifestyle." Definitely a one-of-a-kind global perspective.

Paul was born and raised in Bournemouth on Britain's south coast. "It's sort of like Florida is to New York. Everyone goes down there to retire."

Not ready to retire, Paul had yet to see the U.S. "I bought a Greyhound ticket, took a 32-hour bus tour--did the East coast thing. It was awesome! I fell in love with the states."

"When I got back to London, I started looking into visas." The Waldorf-Astoria ended up sponsoring him. Paul's been cooking in-and-around New York ever since.

He likes the hotel circuit. His CV reads like a destination list of the top hotels. He's cooked at London's Connaught Hotel Mayfair, The Waldorf Astoria, 57/57 in The Four Seasons, Icon at W, The Court and now Bluefin at W, Times Square.

"I guess the hotel thing is like a roof over my head. Look at Thursday (the blackout). If I'd been an independent restaurant, I'd have lost everything in-house. There wouldn't have been a generator. Luckily, we had the emergency power."

"All of the managers at the hotel came to me and said they needed food for the guests. Room service is 24-hours here. That night we did what we could, delivering health bars to all the rooms ... those things make a difference. Take care of the guests and they are going to come back, that's important. Six of us slept here. We weren't sure when the power was coming back on. Our pastry chef set his alarm for 4:30am. So at around 4am, the Virgin Atlantic sign across the street lit up. And we all thought the electricity was coming on--but it was just that one site. Really weird. We waited for another sign from .... somewhere!" (Or somebody ...)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

And when Paul isn't improvising?

"I think it's important to travel--even if it's to the next block--to see what people are doing. Last year BR Guest (the company that owns Bluefin) sent Luis Nieto (of the Blue Water Grill) and me on a two-week tour of Spain's North Coast. We started at Vigo and Pontevedra visiting the fish markets, and ended in San Sebastian Guipuzcoa. We checked out Restaurant Arzak and Akelarre."

These are some of the smartest spots elevating Basque cooking to modern heights.

"Spain seems to be the place for experimentation--very cool. They were the first to do the foams. Now they are doing something called 'air.'" Air? Go figure.

Paul's food takes no prisoners. It's straightforward. Clean. Refreshing.

"I think my biggest step was coming to Bluefin. Because of construction, we had nothing in-house. And we didn't yet have our license of operation. Two days before we opened, we were bringing in the tables, the chairs, the salmon, the tuna and the staff. Opening night we did 80 covers, second night around 200 and the third night, which was New Year's Eve 2001, we did 800!"

Looking for Paul? He's the one dancing in the dark.

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