Honoring Michel Richard (1948-2016)

[DonRocks]

Folks, Michel is in bad shape. He's still with us, but it's not a good time.

I'm *very* sorry to say this: Hope for the best, but prepare yourselves for the worst. 

 

[reedm]

 Very sad to hear. 

[Kibbee Nayee]

He's in my prayers. I met him a few times, even in Las Vegas, and he was a gregarious and friendly back-slapper. 

[Charles Tsui]

What sad news. I have very fond memories of a dinner at Central in 2012 with one of Michel's son's friends. Halfway through the meal, Michel arrived with his wife and brother and they sat down for their own dinner at the table next to ours. We ate and drank until we were ready to pass out and Chef comped our meal. A most gracious and generous host.

[DonRocks]

Feb 14, 2007: This is from Matt's 10th birthday at Central.

I've always loved this picture.

[Bart]

Don -  For those of us who have blissfully avoided facebook through its rise and demise, can you post a real picture?

[ATF]

Will send prayers and sweet thoughts. Always adore and admire the man, he is an inspiration in many facets of his life.

[DonRocks]

8 hours ago, Bart said:

Don -  For those of us who have blissfully avoided facebook through its rise and demise, can you post a real picture?

[Keithstg]

So sorry to hear - what a wonderful man. Will keep Michel in my thoughts.

[Night Owl]

Michel just passed away. There are so many and yet no words all at the same time...

[squidsdc]

I have very fond memories of taking a cooking class with him on my birthday many years ago and running into him afterwards at Dean & Deluca. And of course dining at his restaurants. RIP.

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Night Owl said:

Michel just passed away. There are so many and yet no words all at the same time...

I apologize for not saying this at the time, but I didn't think it was respectful to give any details: Michel suffered a severe stroke, and was in Sibley Hospital yesterday under hospice care - it was most likely a matter of hours. He had been quite ill with complications from diabetes since shortly after Villard failed.

[bettyjoan]

So sorry to hear this.  Sending thoughts of peace to his many friends and family.

[drewster]

RIP Chef.

Your love of life and love of food made DC a better place for all of us.

[DanCole42]

Some of my earliest DC dining experience and some of my earliest attempts at fine dining cooking at home. RIP Michel.

[squidsdc]

Thanks for sharing Don. I hope he did not suffer long.

And I just read that Julia Child passed on this same day in 2004. 

[DonRocks]

2 minutes ago, squidsdc said:

Thanks for sharing Don. I hope he did not suffer long.

And I just read that Julia Child passed on this same day in 2004. 

[nenadaves]

Sad news..:(

[chef4cook]

A great loss. RIP Chef.

[Keithstg]

What a huge loss. Citronelle was one of the first restaurants I went to (and could be considered a "regular" at)where I always left feeling that the cuisine really embodied who the chef was as a person.

Rest in Peace, Michel.

[ol_ironstomach]

RIP, Chef.  DC restaurantgoers are forever in your debt for graciously keeping the bar high, and especially for your playful emphasis on textures.  Thank you for so many moments.

[cajcaj]

What a terrible loss. I remember my one dinner at Citronelle very fondly. I was dining in Central once, when chef walked in. As he passed our table, he sorta pinched my side and told me I needed to eat more - I was totally charmed. 

[DonRocks]

7 minutes ago, cajcaj said:

What a terrible loss. I remember my one dinner at Citronelle very fondly. I was dining in Central once, when chef walked in. As he passed our table, he sorta pinched my side and told me I needed to eat more - I was totally charmed. 

Around the year 2000, Daisuke Utagawa, Jim Grossberg, Karen, and I had a quasi-chef's table dinner at Citronelle. By the end of the meal, I thought Karen wanted to leave me for Michel! 

I hope he gives her a hug for me.

[cajcaj]

4 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

By the end of the meal, I thought Karen wanted to leave me for Michel! 

Complete charmer for sure! I was quite giddy.

[Bart]

There's  A great history and tribute happening right now on Twitter via @Todd Kliman

[Pool Boy]

59 minutes ago, Keithstg said:

What a huge loss. Citronelle was one of the first restaurants I went to (and could be considered a "regular" at)where I always left feeling that the cuisine really embodied who the chef was as a person.

Rest in Peace, Michel.

Truth. My (tragically) single experience at Citronelle was life altering. While I have always loved food, and my food 'awakening' had sprouted in the mid 90s (getting a bit stronger with a trip to NorCal in 99 and a dinner at TIALW), the dinner at Citronelle just opened my eyes at the pure creativity of Michel Richard. Textures, great flavor combinations, playfulness and pure happiness on a plate.

42 minutes ago, ol_ironstomach said:

RIP, Chef.  DC restaurantgoers are forever in your debt for graciously keeping the bar high, and especially for your playful emphasis on textures.  Thank you for so many moments.

My wife is not a fan of cauliflower. So, in the aforementioned single Citronelle experience, one of the opening dishes was of a cauliflower soup inside of an egg and draped with caviar. She went with it thinking it was finally time to throw caution to the wind. The look on her face after tasting that course is still etched in my brain. 'I never knew cauliflower could taste so good!'.

RIP, Chef....indeed.

[Marty L.]

14 hours ago, Bart said:

There's  A great history and tribute happening right now on Twitter via @Todd Kliman

What Todd Kliman is doing over there is remarkable.  What a remembrance.

---

Todd Kliman's tribute now all in one place; someone really oughta get the Post to publish it:

 

[Tujague]

My heart is broken over this tremendous loss. The giant red negative portrait of Chef Richard on the back wall of Central--from anyone else, that would seem like hubris or arrogance, but from him, it was an invitation to partake with the same sort of joy and delight that he took in food and repast. I doubt that DC--or any other US city, for that matter--will ever see another like him. May perpetual light shine on him.

[Pat]

A little while ago I saw friends who ate at Central last night. There was no indication to diners that there was any problem. They were devastated.  She has a great photo on her phone with Chef (I believe from this July), and it at least gave me a smile. Such sad and tragic news.

(P.S. The Kliman twitter remembrance is quite special. Thanks for the heads up.)

[MsDiPesto]

Happy circumstance made it possible for me to eat at the first Citronelle in Santa Barbara. I knew it was special at the time. I had the pleasure of the Georgetown Citronelle only once. And I really liked Central the couple of times I've been. He had a distinctive style and gave DC something to boast about. 

[DaveO]

I'm sorry to hear of his passing.  I was fortunate to dine at Citronelle in the 90's.  It was a wonderful and unique experience.  He changed the nature of dining and must have been a leader in chef's creating entirely new taste phenomena.  It was apparent back then even if not well defined at the time.  Central expanded the experience.  A true master.

Mark Furstenberg writes about his friend Michel Richard here

 

[DonRocks]

Great artists inspire me to write, and like most other great artists, Michel Richard had "periods" - his "whimsical period" beginning around the turn of the millennium, perhaps just afterwards - I was so taken with what he was doing that some of my posts essentially "wrote themselves," flowing like Champagne: They're the first five posts here, and in particular, I'd like you to pay close attention to number five, originally written on Dec 16, 2004.

I also just realized that they're password-protected, so for now, I'm going to reproduce them here.

---------------

1.

The indigenous people in North America were Asians who crossed the Beringia land bridge formed by glacial flow (and corresponding topographical change) approximately 12,000 years ago. When they arrived, they found woolly mammoths, saber-tooth tigers, mastadons, large bison, camels (!), giant ground sloths, and a whole host of other now-extinct beasts.

However, the true "Native Americans" were the anaerobic bacteria which formed during the Precambrian Era, only to be conquered and usurped, at least in stature, by the stromatolites and other primitive prokaryotes which formed approximately 3 billion years later in the region surrounding Lake Superior.

The only thing I can think to add is that I had a kick-assed beef shortrib "pot-au-feu" at Citronelle on Saturday night, and the presentation of the shortribs really does look like layered stromatolites. It's a bloody brilliant take on this dish, turning the peasant into the elevated. Run, do not walk. It's available at the bar for $35, and no shit, I suspect the entire dish has less than 1,200 calories while at the same time being rich, filling and satisfying.

Thank you for listening, and have a nice day.
Rocks.

---------------

2.

Hmm ... they say there are two people in this world you don't want to anger: the person working on your car, and the person fixing your food.

I'm strongly reconsidering coming tonight.

I can see myself sitting down at the table. Chef Hartzer comes strolling up, and smacks me on my back so hard that my teeth rattle.

"Donnie Rrrrrocks! Welcome back to Shitronelle, my friend. I heard you've been posting on eGullet," he says, grinning like a satanic pirate.

"Hi Michael."

"I'm going to send a course out to you, compliments of the house. It's an oyster shooter. Ever had it?"

"Umm ... yes, once ... a long time ago ..."

"I'm going to make it myself ... just for you. I need to head back to the kitchen now, but I'll send it right out." As he starts to walk away, he turns and looks back with a strange red gleam in his eye. "Oh by the way ... are you sure you didn't mean ... Spitronelle? Enjoy your meal, Rocks."

---------------

3.

Michael Hartzer is turning out some of the most complex and interesting plates Washington has ever seen. I don't know where he and Michel Richard dreamed up this one, but last night I had what must have been the most labor-intensive dish in the entire city.

It was a carpaccio of squab breast (!), laid flat in a wide shallow bowl, and topped with finely diced parsnips, turnips, carrots, English peas and slices of late-autumn truffle (!!). Basically, a "mirepoix." Resting on the wide rim of the bowl were two skewered squab legs "en confit," dry-rubbed with black trumpet mushrooms and truffles, and sitting atop a touch of microchervil. That's the dry part. Then comes a warm ladle full of intense gingery consommé which was made from chicken, veal and duck.

What to make of this? Well, it occurred to me that this was a three-way hybrid of their carpaccio, their pot-au-feu and their pintade of guinea hen which Michael confirmed. I cannot imagine how much cumulative effort it must have taken to make this dish, but I'm glad I was on the receiving end. Michel and Michael conceived this only two days ago, and it was a fascinating, thought-provoking experience that quite frankly I'm unqualified to fully appreciate.

P.S. Mark Slater brought us a fine magnum of 1997 Valpolicella "Ripasso" that is on the list for only $95. For a double-bottle of good wine at this level of restaurant with this level of service, that's quite impressive.

---------------

4.

Now that Citronelle is a current topic of discussion here, let me slip in one more plug for Mark Slater and their wine program.

I had dinner at the Citronelle bar last night, and while I was waiting for my meal, enjoying a wonderful $35 bottle of Cotes-du-Rhone (served in a first-rate Schott-Zwiesel wine glass), I took a closer look at the list.

Guess how many bottles of wine I counted that are priced at $55 or less?

102!

And at a restaurant such as Citronelle, the sommelier tastes and puts his stamp of approval on each-and-every wine, with the possible exception of the high-end rarities. So even if you bottom feed and look for something priced in the $30s, you're going to get a good bottle. This isn't even considering the first-rate wine service itself which makes a huge difference in the overall experience. Could you find a $50 Citronelle bottle for $40 somewhere down the street? Probably, but the wine service is eas-i-ly worth ten bucks, and on low-end wines you get virtually the same service as with the more expensive offerings.

I don't know how many wines are on the list at Citronelle, but let's say there are 600. Take away the 500 most-expensive bottles, and you know what would happen? The press would look at this 100-bottle list and lavish it with praise for being hip, consumer-oriented, and accessible.

Well, those 100-bottles are all sitting there, right now! It's just that there are so many expensive wines that you might not notice them.

Cheers,

Rocks.

---------------

5.

It’s time to begin thinking in historic terms about Michel Richard.

When Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record for most consecutive games played, the great Brooks Robinson took the microphone. I don’t remember the exact words, but they were something like this: “People see me, and they say I’m ‘Mister Oriole,’” and then he looked at Cal Ripken, and said, “Cal, YOU are Mister Oriole."

Jean-Louis Palladin has justifiably been considered as THE great Chef ever to set foot in Washington, but it’s time now for the great Jean-Louis to consider passing the torch to Michel Richard.

Pork Rinds and Hot Dog – Billed as the “Not-Yet-Famous Pied de Cochon,” Michel Richard’s soon-to-be legendary dish is worthy of awe. A “sausage,” if you will, consisting of pigs’ feet, foie gras, sweetbreads and chanterelles (I will repeat this in a minute), is served on a bed of potato puree, surrounded by a mushroom puree, and topped with a huge pork rind which is a rectangular “tuile of pig skin” completely masking the hot dog.

Please allow me to repeat this again:

The sausage consists of pigs’ feet, foie gras, sweetbreads and chanterelles, and it’s covered up by a rectangular tuile of pig skin.

Tonight I had this for the second time, and the only comparable dish I've had recently is the dish immediately preceding: the “Tuna Napoleon ‘Nicoise,’” which is a multilayered tower of raw tuna resting on thin wafers, each layer stuffed, and the whole thing topped with all the ingredients in a classic Nicoise salad. A straightforward and pure presentation, except that in a gesture of typical Richard playfulness, the quartered hardboiled egg is not an egg: it’s mozzarella, stuffed with yellow-tomato puree.

Michel Richard is the greatest chef ever to grace Washington DC. He has taken the longevity and tradition of Jean-Louis Palladin, the technique and promise of Yannick Cam and Gerard Pangaud, the charisma of Roberto Donna, the youthful whimsy of Fabio Trabocchi, the buzz of Eric Ziebold, the innovation of Jose Andres, and combined them all into a … no.

No. I saw what I was writing there, and it’s wrong. Michel Richard is Michel Richard, and he is not a derivation or combination of anyone. He is what he is, and he’s the best chef I’ve seen here in my lifetime.

Cheers,
Rocks.

---------------

This CD is still in the plastic wrapper and is from 2003. If any of Michel's family members want it, it's yours - just get in touch.

 

 

 

[Bart]

My one "meal" at Citronelle was probably 20 years ago and that was just some happy hour apps of which I have no memory.  Is it possible to experience some classic Michel Richard dishes at Central?  I'm talking about the ones that leave you speechless just from looking at them and also the ones where the thing on your plate is actually disguised as some other thing.  Is it possible to still get some of that magic at Central?  If so, which dishes?

PS - In his tweet storm/tribute, Todd Kliman talking about people being blown away or in awe or maybe in shock when they saw what some of his dishes looked like.  Would they still be as mind blowing in 2016 or has the rest of the world caught up/copied that style of presentation?

[DaRiv18]

[Keithstg]

On 8/18/2016 at 5:11 PM, Bart said:

My one "meal" at Citronelle was probably 20 years ago and that was just some happy hour apps of which I have no memory.  Is it possible to experience some classic Michel Richard dishes at Central?  I'm talking about the ones that leave you speechless just from looking at them and also the ones where the thing on your plate is actually disguised as some other thing.  Is it possible to still get some of that magic at Central?  If so, which dishes?

PS - In his tweet storm/tribute, Todd Kliman talking about people being blown away or in awe or maybe in shock when they saw what some of his dishes looked like.  Would they still be as mind blowing in 2016 or has the rest of the world caught up/copied that style of presentation?

Hey Bart, I guess from my perspective the short answer is that it's not really possible to have any of the classic Citronelle dishes at Central, but I'd argue that some of the Central dishes are Michel Richard classics (fried chicken and lobster burger), just in a different vein. Not as groundbreaking and no trompe l'oeil like at Citronelle, but fun just the same and representative of his thought process.

WRT Citronelle in 2016 it's hard to tell. I'd assume that the restaurant would have continued to evolve, but you never know. There was some serious talent in house.