Today I'm speaking with Claudia Fleming, a James Beard award winning pastry chef and former owner of the North Fork Inn, here on Long Island. Claudia has had an illustrious career, working at the famed Tribeca Grill and Grammercy Tavern.
Claudia is now famous among pastry chefs and home cooks for her iconic, out-of-print cookbook called, The Last Course. In this episode of the Big Food Talk we discuss her passion for food, struggles and achievements as well as what's in store for the future.
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Here's the list of questions we discuss through this week's episode.
How did Tribeca Grill transform your career? Claudia talks about how the staff was obsessed with cooking for people. If a friend or colleague came into the restaurant, the kitchen would kick into overdrive just to please that guest.
How does the kitchen staff execute meal service with such precision? The dance or orchestration happens through practice. One can assume the longer a kitchen staff works together as a unit, the more they can feel each others rhythm and pacing to deliver meal service at a high level. Claudia learned early on in her career to be able to rely on other people to help get the job done even if it was competitive in the kitchen.
What was different about working at Grammercy Tavern vs Tribeca Grill? For Claudia, a key moment in her career is the time spent in France between Tribeca Grill and Grammercy Tavern. Times had changed when she landed at Grammercy Tavern. A kinder, gentler kitchen is how she describes it.
Did you feel like you had enough experience for the job? Looking back, Claudia is pretty clear she was in way over head at Grammercy Tavern. For the rest of the world, tasting her desserts and in awe of her skill, we wouldn't be able to tell. It was her relationships she established and her maturity that helped pushed her career along. Claudia clearly had a great work ethic as she reveals as well.
What was your inspiration for The Last Course? The cookbook The Last Course was a culmination of her careers work and represented her repertoire at Grammercy Tavern. Claudia never thought about making a cookbook before but they had a large literary clientele, where one thing led to another and next thing you know she's a published author. It's a little more complicated than this summary so listen in to get the full story on this iconic cookbook.
Why did you decide to move back to Long Island? For Claudia, the answer was simple. Now married and looking for a different lifestyle with her husband, they decided to open The North Fork Inn. It was a simple concept. No fancy hooks, just great food and service and it worked. Sourcing local ingredients and cooking with passion always
Want to find out which dessert Claudia loves the most? You'll have to download and listen to the full episode to hear the rest of our discussion. How some of her dishes were happy accidents or how preparing simple food isn't as easy you think.