In Our Kitchens

Sous vide use at our restaurants is so pervasive as to be completely integrated into the system. From the built-in circulator tank at per se’s fish station to the 80-gallon tank that resides in the storeroom of the Bouchon kitchen in Las Vegas—used for cooking large quantities of braised short ribs and other such cuts—chamber sealers, immersion heaters, water-filled tanks, and plastic bags are all part of our kitchens.

The French Laundry, per se, Bouchon, and Ad Hoc kitchens all have numerous immersion circulators. Because most are portable, they can move from station to station or on busy weekends out of the kitchen altogether—anywhere the water tank, often a tall Lexan container, will fit. We usually have at least one designated immersion circulator on the line during service and one in the prep area.