The Chefs Who Would Be Stars

Some of them were born too late. Some of them were born in the wrong place. And some were simply born with the wrong attitude. These are the chefs who should have been stars--and the reasons why they aren’t.

Michel Richard: By all rights Michel Richard should be a star. His Citrus is certainly the most interesting new restaurant to open in Los Angeles in the past few years; last year, in fact, Citrus was voted best new restaurant in America by a jury of his peers (Who’s Who of American Cooking).

Then too, Richard is a wonderful chef whose food is consistently surprising, delicious and inventive. What he cooks is uniquely his own, more Californian than French, more Richard than Californian. And watching him careen around his laboratory kitchen, it is clear that he revels in cooking; you will never see a chef who gets more pleasure from the act of cooking.

On top of that Richard has enormous personal charm; it is impossible to meet the man and not be seduced by the force of his personality.

So why don’t you read about Richard in the social pages? Because his timing was wrong; Citrus opened a little too late. Had Richard opened a year or two earlier, he would surely have been forgiven the fact of being French and been made into a major star. As it is, he’ll have to settle for being a very rich chef.

Patrick Healy: Healy has almost everything it takes to be a celebrity chef. He is young, American, handsome and bright. Everybody agrees that his food is wonderful.

Indeed, when he was the chef at Colette, Healy seemed headed for fame. But by the time he opened his own Champagne 2 years ago, it was clear that celebrity was not in the stars.

This is partly because Healy does not seem interested in staking out new territory; his food is resolutely French or California French. Still, with his good food and an innovative menu that blends French, Californian and Spa cuisines, Healy probably could have been a contender.

Had he wanted to be. But both Healy and his restaurant have a modest quality unbecoming a star. The restaurant, opened without investors, is decidedly not splashy. And Healy himself works behind closed doors and is not prone to strutting around his dining room. Clearly this is one man who wanted to be a chef, not a star.

Leonard Schwartz: He turned meat loaf into upscale food when he put it on the menu at 72 Market Street. And Schwartz was among the first to identify the trend toward real American food. Still, you probably have never heard of him.

For if celebrity chefdom is what he was after, Schwartz made one serious mistake: He went to work for a true blue celebrity.

When Tony Bill is out front, who is going to go looking for the chef behind the scenes?

Hans Rockenwagner: Rockenwagner, who had the audacity to give his restaurant his own unpronounceable last name, would probably like to be famous. And he has almost everything it takes-- a great pedigree in food, great looks, great food. He even has an attractive wife who works with him--and a beautiful baby.

But, while he has done well enough to open a second restaurant (the new Fama in Santa Monica), he’s been plagued by bad timing. If Rockenwagner were only a little bit older, he would surely have been a star. But he came along after the first generation, and as Puck says, “The first wave paved the way for the next guys. And they’re not as famous. Even in France, it’s the same. Maximin is not going to have the impact that Verge or Troisgros did.”

Joachim Splichal: He is one of our best chefs, and his Patina, due to open early next month, is being eagerly awaited by sophisticated eaters.

But after opening the 7th Street Bistro to great acclaim, he decamped, only to reappear a bit later at Max au Triangle. The restaurant, a critical success, closed in less than two years, and Splichal went on to consulting jobs in New York and elsewhere.

Splichal isn’t American, and he doesn’t cook American food. Still, in the early days of celebrity chefs, he probably would have become a star on the sheer strength of his cooking.

Mark Peel: With his brand-new Campanile the hottest restaurant in town, Peel would be the most likely candidate for next celebrity chef. He is bright, young, handsome and articulate. He’s just finishing up his cookbook. And, as the longtime chef at Spago, he has certainly paid his dues.

But Peel’s rustic Italian fare is the soul of simplicity. People are more likely to come away saying, “What a delicious dinner,” than “I’ve never tasted anything like that before.” And that’s not how stars are born.

Besides, how are you going to make a star out of someone who says he doesn’t want to be recognized on the streets? Someone who, when asked by a photographer from a national magazine, “Who is your groomer?” replies, “I don’t have groomers.”

Toribio Prado: At 23 Prado is certainly young. And good looking. And he’s certainly had an impact on the cooking of the city.

His Cha Cha Cha sparked the Caribbean craze that swept through the city. And despite an east-side location and low prices, it managed to attract an upscale celebrity clientele. But Prado was plagued by a partner who stole the spotlight. Mario Tamayo was the life of the party, and Prado seemed like just another guy behind the stove. Moral: A chef who wants to be a celebrity has to get out of the kitchen.

Evan Kleiman: When they talk about women in the kitchen, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of City Restaurant always come first. Evan Kleiman, whose Angeli paved the way for the dozens of small authentic Italian cafes that came behind it, is always a second thought.

Kleiman is young, American, attractive and bright. She has a couple of cookbooks that sell very well, and her two Angelis are so architecturally audacious that they are constantly popping up in design magazines. But Italian food has not traditionally received a lot of respect in this country, and Kleiman’s food is more authentic than innovative. Other chefs were serving pasta with preposterous toppings; Kleiman was busy teaching us that Italians don’t like a lot of sauce on their spaghetti. In the ‘80s that was not a road to fame.