Gold rush
In spite of his name, Anthony Rush can't be accused of doing anything in haste. Having spent the last three-and-a-half years working as second chef at the two-Michelin-starred Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, he could quite easily take on his first head chef's position. But instead, the 23-year-old has just taken a massive drop in status and accepted a post as a commis chef. Mad, isn't he?
Actually, he's as sane as they come. But what Rush has done displays the sort of foresight that few people have at his age and, by swallowing his pride, he has been able to enter one of the most revered kitchens in the world, that of Thomas Keller.
"I'm starting at the bottom, but it's the best way to get to know the ropes, the style of food and the restaurant," Rush explains. Fortunately, his starting wage is good - he earns $24,000 (£15,345), which is considerably more than a comparable position in the regions in Britain would command. "I'm not doing it for the money though," he protests. "I have never thought of it that way - I'm doing this because I want to learn."
Rush already exhibits a huge amount of culinary know-how (one-on-one tuition from his former mentor, David Everitt-Matthias, made sure of that), but this calculated move will ensure that when Rush progresses up the culinary ladder he will have a very wise and experienced head on his shoulders.
"I would always advise any chef to go in below what they are actually capable of," Everitt-Matthias says. "It's far better to surprise than take a position and maybe struggle. If you prove yourself, you'll get promoted very quickly."
Straightforward
Rush's move to the French Laundry, in Yountville in the Napa Valley, seems to have a touch of fate about it. "It's a bit scary really - it's all been incredibly straightforward," Rush says. As summer approached, Rush and Everitt-Matthias knew it was time for him to leave Le Champignon Sauvage. Together, they started to search out Rush's next position. A stage was set up at the French Laundry with relative ease, and the offer of full-time employment followed swiftly.
Everitt-Matthias made initial contact with the restaurant. "We organised the stage as a birthday/leaving present," explains Everitt-Matthias, who liaised directly with Keller's chef de cuisine Eric Ziebold. "We agreed some dates for him to do his stage and I explained that as he would be leaving us shortly if there was a job going for Anthony they should not hold back in offering it to him. I simply wanted him to work in the best place in America."
So having completed his stage in June, Rush returned to Cheltenham for six weeks to work his notice before heading back out to the USA last month.
Not surprisingly, visas have been a little harder to get hold of since 11 September last year. They are issued for one place of work and are not transferable, so Rush needed to be clear in his mind that he would be happy to stay in Napa for the next 18 months.
Differences
Rush has noticed few differences between American and British culinary practices so far. He has been struck, however, by the quality of fresh produce. "The range of ingredients isn't exactly out of the norm, but the quality is incredible - they are so much riper. If you look at tomatoes, for example, back at home in some of our supermarkets it's bullshit, they are all bought in for size and shape. Here, some might be odd in shape, but the flavour is amazing. One of the dishes on the menu - toy box tomato salad - features loads of different types of tomato, some cooked, some raw, and served with extra garnishes such as basil pur‚e and tomato and basil marmalade. I saw it go out for service the other day - it looked so colourful, beautifully plated, but in no set way. It looked like Toytown on a plate."
Hours, meanwhile, have been different. Rush works 5.30am-5.30pm five days a week ("I do 40 hours plus 20 hours overtime") and so far he has had Fridays and Saturdays off. As the restaurant is open for dinner only from Monday to Thursday and then open for lunch and dinner Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Rush has seen little service.
He has also yet to experience the restaurant from the other side of the fence. "The restaurant's booking policy is quite strict and it's hard to get a reservation, but I've just managed to book a table for 27 November. I can't wait."
His role is commis chef on the canap‚ and fish section and he begins work about five-and-a-half hours before his chef de partie comes in (at 11am). He carefully works through a work sheet left by his section chef the night before, preparing things like chive chips and garnishes. He has stayed on a few times after his shift to observe service. "Thomas knows that I am used to being on the front line during service - which I did twice a day, every day at Le Champignon Sauvage - but he emphasised that it's good for me to see this side of the kitchen.It's a little frustrating as I'm so keen to progess, but I know he's right."
Rush says he misses the personal contact that he experienced working in a small operation like Le Champignon Sauvage, but he is slowly getting to know more about the French Laundry on a broader scale, such as the fact that Keller's New York restaurant is due to open in November next year.
He has been pleased to find that, as he heard before his arrival, Keller is very much present in his kitchen. "I am glad to see Thomas here so much, doing a lot of the work, being hands on. Every time he comes in, he shakes everyone's hands - the respect that his chefs have for him is so evident. There's a great atmosphere in the kitchen, the guys are so friendly and helpful."
The plan is that Rush will work in California for the next 18 months until his visa expires, by which time Keller's New York restaurant may have opened. New York next, then?
"I never look more than a couple of years ahead. All I know is that I want to be at the French Laundry for the next year-and-a-half. At the moment, I think I know very little - especially going into a new kitchen. So I just want to look and learn and prepare myself for the future. Of course ultimately, like most chefs, I'd like my own place, but I don't know when. I'm certainly in no hurry."
Anthony Rush - at speed
What made you want to become a chef? A love of food and the practical aspect - I love using my hands.
What do you think will be the next food trend in the UK? I would like to see more places serving d‚gustation menus (as is the case in the USA). Multiple courses are the most enjoyable way to eat food.
How would you solve the recruitment problem?
Take the clowns off TV so that people see cooking as a serious profession.
Favourite dish at Le Champignon Sauvage?
Pan-fried foie gras with salad of rocket and fine French beans, roasted quince confit, duck gizzards and bacon.
Most rated meal?
At Charlie Trotter's in 1998. I was only 19 at the time, but it opened my eyes up to what you can do with food, fish in particular. I went on my own to Trotter's and started chatting to one of the waiters and when he found out I was a chef, he asked the kitchen to create a one-off menu for me. It was the first time I'd really experienced multiple courses.
Where else do you rate in the States?
Gotham Bar and Grill. It's very different in food style to Keller's or Trotter's, but it's still really nice, tasty food. I had the best scallop dish I've ever had there - a simple salad of seared scallops with fingerling potatoes and a small garnish of asparagus, small salad leaves and butter sauce.
Where would you most like to do a stage? Well, I would say the French Laundry, but having just landed a job there I would have to say Tetsuya Wakuda's eponymous restaurant in Sydney. I like the fact that a lot of the menus feature fish - delicately cooked or raw - and I think I could learn a lot from working with him.
Favourite pastime? Skydiving. It's so much cheaper over here - about a third of the price in England. I'm hoping to persuade some of the other guys in the kitchen to join me some time.
Do you have a message for anyone at home?
Yes, I'd like to thank David and Helen Everitt-Matthias for everything they've done for me. I do miss them, and I wish Arnaud [Besnier], who worked alongside me, all the very best.
Rush, the rising star
According to David Everitt-Matthias, Anthony Rush has many of the essential ingredients to make a good chef and he has no doubt that his prot‚g‚ will go far.
"At the top of the list, he likes eating out," he says. "When we recruited Anthony [from the Horn of Plenty in Gulworthy, Devon], we interviewed other chefs who were more experienced than him, but he had more enthusiasm and conveyed a love of eating out.
"He had been to Charlie Trotter's twice already - and he was only 19 at the time."
On joining Le Champignon Sauvage, Rush demonstrated a desire to learn. "There are natural chefs and workers. Natural chefs are few and far between. Anthony is natural and has the potential to expand on that," Everitt-Matthias says.
"His speed has grown and grown and he's always eager to learn new techniques. He loves cooking so much. He holds dinner parties at home and will serve 12 courses - you have to love cooking to spend your day off like that."
But has he got what it takes to succeed? "A lot of getting where you are involves so many things - the right place, the right time. But he knows I'm here if he needs me to help him get a job when things finish in the USA," Everitt-Matthias says.
"My job as head chef does not finish as soon as someone leaves - particularly someone like Anthony, who has given me so much of his life."
