Gabriel Kreuther: cooking up modern masterpieces

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 21, 2005 by Brooke Barrier

Gabriel Kreuther, executive chef of The Modern, recently has put the final touches on his latest work o[art, and it now is open for public viewing--and tasting, of course. Housed in New York's renovated Museum of Modern Art, the 85-seat fine-dining restaurant offers a contemporary, menu. The native Alsatian's interest in cooking dates back in his childhood, when he asked his mother an endless stream of questions about meals she prepared for the family. By the age of 12, Kreuther was helping out at his uncle is restaurant, where he discovered his skill in the kitchen.

Today, with the names of several stellar restaurants behind him, the accomplished chef has created a menu that complements the style of the MoMA. Kreuther says his modern approach to French-American cuisine features lighter, brighter versions of traditional dishes.

The Modern, operated by Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, includes the casual, 100-seat Bar Room and the 45-seat, seasonal outdoor terrace, where guests can dine among works by prominent sculptors.

Kreuther also has cooked in New York at La Caravelle; the four-star Restaurant Jean-Georges; and at the acclaimed Atelier in the hotel Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.

Title: executive chef, The Modern, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Birth date: April 14, 1969

Hometown: Niederschaeffolsheim, France

Education: Ecole Hoteliere de Strasbourg

Career highlight: winning first prize at the Concours National Meilleur Apprenti Cuisinier de France--Ferdinand Point in 1987, a national contest that determines the best kitchen apprentice in France

What draws you to fine dining over a more casual atmosphere?

I haven't always been in fine--dining restaurants, but I've always worked in places where the food is great.

I like both environments, but something extra goes into fine dining. There is more thinking involved, more technique. It's more appealing to me to put 18 hours of my day into something that I like instead of 15 hours into just a regular job. Fine dining is more open to diverse thinking and creativity. It's a lot more complex, and it's also more natural for me. I feel good in it.

Why did you decide to make the move from Atelier to The Modern?

It was not an easy choice, but you know I always have liked art, and having an institution like MoMA call you and ask you to do something is somehow amazing. Also, Danny Meyer is kind of his own little institution. So all of those things came together and made it happen.

How did you create a menu that would reflect the modern attitude of the MoMA?

The easiest way for me to achieve what I want to achieve every day is when I am at work, I don't think about where I am. Because if I think where I am, I put pressure on myself and I'm not here to compete with what's around me. I'm trying to complement what's here. It's a museum, and the guys who have art in here are the best in their fields: you can't compete with that.

How does your cooking style complement the idea of modernism?

It opens a door to creation but also a more sleek and streamlined presentation with a more purist side. You take things off instead of adding them in. It's an open-minded space, so it opens a lot of doors for me. When people walk in here--and you have to be open-minded to walk into a modern museum--they're not going to be shocked if you do something a little outside of the norm.

How does the Bar Room menu differ from that of the dining room?

It's much more grounded in nay roots. It's a take on Alsatian food with my flavors and some traditional stuff that's been modernized and lightened up, because classical Alsatian food is kind of heavy. So that's where I went into it, worked it down and made everything my way. But still it has its own identity.

A dish I didn't touch at all is the tarte flambee. It's a very thin piece of crusted dough with sour cream, creme fraiche, onions and bacon. It looks like a pizza.

One dish I changed to make it my way is the homemade sauerkraut with tomatoes and pork cheeks braised in beer. In Alsace we don't really do sauerkraut with tomatoes; we're kind of against it. But I braise the meat in beer, so it comes out a little on the sweet side. To counterbalance the sweetness, I add some tomatoes to get the acidity back.

The dining-room menu is very simple. For example, we have a salad with diced celeriac and chopped oysters, topped with caviar and served with a few oysters on the side. We also feature langoustines with bacon, spiced yogurt, a blood-orange sauce and a salad.

We're doing a prix-fixe menu for about $70 that comes with an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. We also do tasting menus. We're opening at the highest peak of truffle season, so we're offering a black-truffle menu because some people just love truffles.

What prompted you to offer small plates in the Bar Room?

They're not really small; they're smaller. It's to open the door to people who come from the museum and want to stop by to have one little thing; but it's also an option for people to sit down and put together their own tasting menu. Also, if you've been in the museum all day, when you want to sit down at 4 p.m. in the afternoon, you may not want two or three courses, just a little salad.