The Chef as Owne

For culinary artists whose passion for cooking is greater than their passion for running a business, it can be difficult to balance the two. “If you’re a chef without your own business, then you can concentrate more on the cooking. But if you have your own restaurant, then you have to be more of a collaborator,” says Daniel Boulud. “I won’t let my business or my cooking go entirely into others’ hands. I have a lot of people working with me, but I am the epicenter of all of it.”

Norman Van Aken points out the differences in his style since becoming a chef-owner, as opposed to serving as the chef of someone else’s restaurant. “Norman’s is a much bigger restaurant. [At A Mano], I cooked sometimes out of a sense of escape; it had a stranglehold on me because I wasn’t the owner and I was trying so much to become the owner of the restaurant. There were times when it was more edgy, I guess. Whereas now, it’s like being in my own home, and I feel much more comfortable with my food. It’s more balanced, overall.