Ooh-la-la: Scott Cutaneo brings French ambience to New Jersey

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 15, 2001 by Bonnie Brewer Cavanaugh

Executive chef-owner Scott Martin Cutaneo has a mission: to bring a little bit of the French countryside to the bucolic horse country of central New Jersey and lure New York diners to his country realm, some 50 miles outside the city Cutaneo grew up in New York City but moved to Bernardsville with his family in 1985. He developed his love for cooking just seven years ago.

Cutaneo toured Europe culinary havens and apprenticed with some of the world's greatest French chefs before opening his little French country restaurant in his hometown, with the intention of making it a four-star eatery

Cutaneo has achieved that goal and more. He holds the distinction of being the youngest chef to have cooked at the James Beard House in New York. Since opening Le Petit Chateau in 1996, he has received numerous accolades, including several four-star ratings. Cutaneo 's inclusion in the Chef's Guide to America s Best Restaurants made his restaurant lust one of five in New Jersey so honored.

Under Cutaneo leadership and dedication to a "perfect synergy between wine and food," the wine list at Le Petit Chateau has grown from 26 labels in 1996 to more than 1,300 with 22,000 bottles on hand. His working wine cellar also serves as an intimate dining room for up to 14 people.

Title: chef-owner, Le Petit Chateau, Bernardsville, N.J.

Birth date: June 6,1967

Hometown: Bernardsvile, N.J.

Education: business degree, School of Management at Boston University; a six-month internship, Hogere hotel/wines & spirits school in the the Netherlands

Career highlights: Studying food and wine in Europe; training with Daniel Boulud of Restaurant Daniel in Manhattan and Michel Guerard of Pres D'Eugenie, the longest-running three-star restaurant in the South of France; being the youngest chef to have cooked at the James Beard House in New York City; receiving recent accolades from Arthur Schwartz on WOR Radio in New York; making recent appearances on the Food Network's "Ready, Set, Cook!" and chef Bobby Flay's "Food Nation" and "Hot Off the Grill."

How did you know you wanted to cook for a living?

My brother is a big trader in New York, and I'm one of five [siblings] and they all have those "white collar" jobs, whereas I always worked in a restaurant; I liked the excitement. I tell my guys, "I've only been cooking seven years, but if you work with the best chefs in the world, you'll get there. There is no nobility in quantity."

Where was your first job?

In 1987, at the Four Seasons restaurant in Brussels: I was just help, and it was part of a class. Then I went to work as a purchaser at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. From there I became sous chef at the Hilton in Short Hills, N.J. From there I went to the Ritz in Paris, and from there to my two best jobs: with Michel Guerard and then Daniel Boulud. From there I became the chef at Le Petit Chateau, and I loved it. After a week I talked to the owner, and I bought it six months later, in November 1996.

Where do you eat when you dine out?

I rarely eat in New Jersey. Unfortunately, it's just the perception. When you go out, you want to go into New York to see what the big guys are doing.

Then why should people, especially New Yorkers, think of New Jersey when they think of fine food?

The best restaurants in America aren't in the cities; they're in the suburbs. There are a lot of great chefs in New Jersey and mainly because of the fact that it's close to New York; a lot of them have gotten their training in New York from arguably the best chefs in the world. New Jersey also is a great area for corporate parties, for company executives who eat at the best restaurants.

Where do you plan on taking Le Petit Chateau?

Our ultimate goal is to be the best restaurant in the world. That means trying to be the best that you can be. If you're passionate about it, you can move mountains.

Do you plan to open additional restaurants?

There's always talk about opening in East Hampton, N.Y. A lot of guests who are from there are always pushing me to start there. The key is not to overextend yourself. It's a matter of making this place the best it can be. If you own two or three restaurants, where would the passion come from? Would it die down?

I hear your Grand Marnier Souffle is to die for.

I have a funny story about that. When I was in France, I ate at Au Petit Mauguary, known for the best souffles in the world. I said, "Hey, I just want to come work in the kitchen for free." I worked a few nights, and then they knew I was in the business. But I learned the passion that they put into it. In France it's not about production; it's about the flavor. Americans are great for presentation, but the French are about flavor. It's like looking at a woman who is not the most beautiful to a lot of people; but if you get to know her and fall in love with her, she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

You've been very busy in the wine cellar.

It's a major undertaking, but it's very gratifying. When we see guests come in here to spend $1,000 on a bottle of wine when they've been here a few times before, you feel very gratified, because you know that they know the good food that they're going to get.