Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll by Andrew Friedman

Author:Andrew Friedman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-01-16T05:00:00+00:00

“HE WAS THE GODFATHER TO THE CHEFS.”

An advocate for young Americans during these years was Marc Sarrazin, a butcher from France’s Charolles region who came to the United States in 1954, became a salesman for meat wholesaler DeBragga & Spitler, and bought the company in 1973. DeBragga & Spitler supplied many of the best restaurants in Manhattan. Sarrazin* isn’t remembered for his product, but for his vast network and willingness to help cooks and chefs at every level, an unofficial, one-man employment agency for the entire industry.

“He was the godfather to the chefs,” says Boulud. “He was the agency to the cooks.”

“When we were kids, if you were at Jean-Jacques Rachou’s for a couple of years and you wanted to move, you’d say, ‘Chef, I don’t want to offend you but I’ve been with you for three years. I’ve learned a lot. I want a new job.’ He’d probably send you to Sarrazin,” says Colameco. “That’s what happened to me. You’d go to his office. Go downtown, walk through that little parking lot, up that long step, and in there would be Marc. He was the guy. All the French restaurants bought meat from him.”

Sarrazin’s office was an unassuming, wood-paneled affair, lined with photographs of chefs. A meeting there was a real “get” for an aspiring cook, and a sit-down lunch with Sarrazin at one of his favored restaurants meant you had arrived, like a comic’s first shot on Johnny Carson.

“Being French and being connected with all the French chefs in town, he was the one who helped all those kids from the CIA to enter into La Côte Basque, into La Caravelle, into Le Cirque, into even—not Le Pavillon because that’s too old—but into all those restaurants,” remembers Boulud. “As soon as somebody would lose a job, he would help him find another job. He was distributing meat in the clubs. He was distributing meat in the restaurants. He was distributing meat in the hotels. He was distributing meat in the major larger caterers. Basically he was covering the entire spectrum of the industry and in a very wide range, also, not only New York but the five boroughs. He was very French and very appreciative of everyone, it didn’t matter—and his son was born in America so he had this mentality of an American as well when it came to embracing young talent.”

“He was the nicest guy,” says Colameco. “It was a different time. If you didn’t buy your meat from him, would it have affected your business? Maybe. There was a kind of a criticism that he had a lock on things. I guess he did. It was business. But beyond that, his personal generosity was amazing. Because we were the first generation of American chefs trying to climb a ladder that was in French or in German or in Swiss, but mostly in French. And you had to get past the gatekeepers and you had to work within the system, and he was the guy.”

Sarrazin was also known for his indirect interviewing style.

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