Charlie Palmer has been one of the most influential practitioners of progressive American dining for almost two decades, beginning in the early 1980s when he received much acclaim as Executive Chef at Manhattan's River Café. He launched his own restaurant, Aureole, in 1988 at the age of only 28, and it remains one of the most highly regarded restaurants in the country. Today he oversees a diverse group of businesses on both coasts, including three restaurants in New York and two in Las Vegas; catering companies in New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles; and the new Hotel Healdsburg in Sonoma County. But despite this impressive business resume, he remains one of the most proactive proponents of American cuisine and has gone as far as anyone in sourcing domestic products for his restaurants. He took time out to share his views on this, and a number of other topics, with The Main Course.

Where and when did you develop the ground work for your unique style of American cooking, and how would you best define it?

I began thinking about developing American food---American ideas is maybe a better way of putting it---when I was at the River Café. Certainly I was influenced by what Larry Forgione had done there, and also by having worked in Europe, in France as well as in Belgium and Italy. And I just thought, here we are in the greatest country in the world and we really don't look at food in the right way, the way I thought it should be looked at as far as sourcing ingredients and things like that. No one at that time pursued finding who could raise the best artisan fowl, or make the best artisan cheese. It was accepted that you worked with whatever you had. The vision of American food I developed was really based in the French tradition, and I think my food still is.

Aureole has been one of New York's top rated restaurants for over 14 years, and one that still has a reputation for innovation. How have you been able to keep the experience intriguing and fresh for diners?

I don't really use the word "change," because I don't look at what we do as changing our philosophy of food, or changing the way we cook. It's really a progression, a constant search for new ingredients and new ideas for the plate. It's incredibly important for a restaurant, particularly in this age, to innovate in all different ways---in the way things are served, in the attitude, and in the way the place looks as far as décor. We're constantly updating everything, trying to be in the forefront. I think it's been good for us here that we have other restaurants and other businesses that help to stimulate new ideas. A good example of that is the innovation with the e-wine book, our electronic wine lists, that we have now. I think that wouldn't have come about at Aureole New York if it hadn't been implemented in Las Vegas first.

You've opened two restaurants in Las Vegas---Aureole Las Vegas in March 1999 and Charlie Palmer Steak in November 1999. How did you have to tailor your concepts to that city, one with very different demands than New York?

We had incredible freedom in Las Vegas, and we really built things that couldn't be built in a metropolitan city. There's not the space to do it, nor would the economics of it make sense. You couldn't find the real estate and the deals we put together anywhere but in Las Vegas. The other really exciting thing about it is, you know, three years ago when I opened Aureole it was an opportunity to be on the forefront of something, a chance to be a pioneer in a place that didn't have great restaurants. Where else could you be that significant? As far as our clientele goes, though, you're not dealing with one that's totally different from what we have here in New York. Aureole New York gets a wide range of customers from all over the country, and all over the world, and they're the same people who come to Aureole Las Vegas.

After so many successful ventures, what was it like to open your newest restaurant, Kitchen 22, on East 22nd Street in Manhattan? How does it differ from your other projects?

Whenever I look at new projects I look at a very specific audience, I look at who we're trying to please. Aureole New York is definitely about entertaining, about special occasions, about business dinners---it's a commitment to come to Aureole. Kitchen 22, however, is in my mind what a neighborhood restaurant should be. I tried to create something great from a decor standpoint, comfortable, something that provided an incredible value for food, wine, and drinks, that could afford the customer the ability to eat there many times in a monthly period. There are a lot of neighborhood restaurants that have great food, but the atmosphere is mediocre, or a lot of places where people love the owners, but the food is really not that outstanding. What we've done is try to make all those elements work together. Our space is really cool, really timely, and it's been incredibly successful.

I read once that "if Charlie Palmer can't find an ingredient he's looking for, he starts a new business." Can you comment on that?

Yes, that's been the case in the past. An example of that is probably Egg Farm Dairy. I grew up on a dairy farm in a small farming community in upstate New York, and I've spent a lot of time in Europe, particularly in France, and the fact that we here in the U.S. haven't to date produced the best cheeses in the world is just beyond me. Egg Farm Dairy was in business for five years, and we did produce some of the greatest butter I think I've ever tasted, and some great cheeses also.

There are a lot of really talented people looking for a partner to help them get into business, and I'm a likely person, because first of all I'm a huge user of a lot of products, and I think I'm good at identifying talent. So, I become a partner in things that make good business sense. For example, there was no American steak knife that I felt was really at the level of what I'd like to see on a table, and yet we have some of the greatest knife makers in the world in this country. So I went to one of the oldest knife makers, and with them designed a knife that I thought was perfect. Things like that continually go on. I'm working with a porcelain producer now for some very specific dishes, because plate design and ways of serving food have changed over the years, and I think that things could be better. We can produce the absolutely perfect dish for serving risotto, so why not do it? I'm a big "Why not?" guy, but of course I don't have enough time….

How does your new Sonoma hotel, Hotel Healdsburg, fit into your overall business plan, and what was the genesis of the project?

Well, in the first place Sonoma is where I'm eventually going to live and raise my family. I've been in New York for 30 years, and in time---I don't know exactly when---I'll be living west and commuting east instead of the other way around. In my mind it doesn't make a big difference, and it's not going to change anything that happens in our business.

My second interest in Sonoma was to become involved in the hotel business, which I think is actually a kind of natural progression. Sonoma is a very unique place, and it was a special project in that way, and it's a very involved project. Although the inn is small, just 55 rooms, it has a number of things going on that make it really interesting: a spa, a lobby lounge, a restaurant. As far as the restaurant is concerned, I wanted to create something that was very, very specific to northern Sonoma. Everything we use ingredient-wise really comes from the county of Sonoma, or very close to it, with the exception of truffles---we haven't figured out how to grow truffles in Sonoma. It's about the bounty of Sonoma, as is the wine list.

You've had a hand in the careers of some of the country's most important young chefs---Diane Forley, Gerry Hayden and Michael Mina, to name only a few. How do you approach teaching and inspiring?

At this point what I try to do is identify talent in the beginning. And when I say talent I'm really talking more about someone who has ambition, rather than someone who has years and years of training. If I can get people to come in here and buy into what we're doing, our big picture and philosophy of food, then we have someone who will have longevity and will grow, someone who will become a chef, or an owner-partner with us. Or they will go out and be successful on their own. And I have to say that at this point in my career it's a great satisfaction, maybe the greatest satisfaction, to see people who worked with us through the years go on to be successful on their own. And like I tell all my people, "Whether you're with us, or go on to something else, you're still part of the family and part of the whole system and philosophy that we have." And that's the way it should be, if not in every business then at least in this one.

Who do you rely on to manage so many properties? And were you always comfortable delegating?

I've certainly become better at it over the years. A number of years ago I realized that if we were going to grow and be successful I'd have to rely on the talents of other people within the company. In every venture we do we put together what we call a core group of people: That includes the chef and usually the other players in the kitchen, and a pastry chef, and two or three front-of-the-house people---manager, maitre d', wine person. I always like that group to have at least some experience with us at one or more of the other restaurants. Every project that has had that core of people has been extremely successful. And there have been a couple of instances when we didn't do that and it didn't work so I shy away from that.

Given the size and scope of your operations, what can you share about successful management?

My management style is based on identifying talent, and then letting people do what they need to do. I try to guide them, but I certainly want them to be creative and to be able to exercise their own ideas. I think probably the most important thing I can teach them is how to deal with people, and how vital communication is. If someone fails in the kitchen I don't really look at that person, I look at the chef. Often the chef didn't put the time into training and teaching and bringing that person along. In this business, training and hiring and rehiring is a huge cost, so we have to give 110 percent of our effort to helping people fit in, and that takes constant communication. In this day and age, with technology, it's not really difficult to do---you can email, and everyone has a cell phone. Every chef in every one of my restaurants has a digital camera. They can shoot a new dish they want to do, and they can send it to me, and I can say, great, or maybe I can suggest a change to the presentation.

You've written two cookbooks, "Great American Food" (1996) and "Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking" (2001), and your third, "The Art of Aureole," is due out in May. What went into them?

My first book was a documentation of what we did at Aureole at that time, five or six years ago. It was really well accepted, especially by the foodie world and by professionals. The second book was designed for the home cook, and it's about how I cook at home. I'm not going to spend two hours in the kitchen on a Sunday. I'm going to spend 30 minutes maximum, so I wanted to show people how I think about things at home. It's really been praised in that way, as a book you really can cook with. All my sisters-in-law are happy with it, and a lot of them can't boil water! The third book is a documentation of some very forward, cutting-edge ideas, and graphically it's a totally out-of-the-box book. So I think some people are going to be shocked by it, some will love it, others will just say "Wow, what is this?" That's all I can say about it right now.

What advice do you have for our professional students, young men and women just starting out on their careers?

When I look at new people coming into this business I think you can pretty much tell right away if they're going to be successful at it or not, because I think you have to understand that it's an incredibly grueling business, and there's no room for wishy-washy feelings about it. You either like it or you don't. And if you like it, I think it's an incredible spot to be in because you can be very successful, and make a great living, and get notoriety. But you have to understand what you're getting into, because there are a lot of traps. As I tell all the people who work with me, you have to be very intense about what you do when you're doing it, but you have another part of your life going on too, and a lot of people in this business fall into bad habits and make bad choices. For me, the greatest thing I've been able to do is to find a balance, and I'm fortunate in that.

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