We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Raymond Childs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Raymond below.
Raymond , so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?
Not to look in the mirror and say “I am the only one in the room that looks like me.” As people we tend to forget that we all are human and my color doesn’t define nor hinder me. My skill set and humility speaks for and through me and that comes from patience. In most group pictures that I have taken in restaurants, my years at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, I was usually the only person of color but my skills set the standards on how one would approach me. The arduous work, sacrifices, long hours and dedication that one puts into perfecting their craft will expose their self-investment-in the long run. This is not a quick road to fame and riches! You have to build, fail, get back up and build even more to reach a realm in this art, this craft to hold the title of Chef. Graduating culinary school-while important-doesn’t make you a Chef. Your gift will make room for you and put you before great men/women.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I was born and raised in Omaha, NE following in the footsteps of my Father who was a professional waiter and cook for Union Pacific Railroad and my mother who shaped me into a man of integrity, honesty and organization. This would lay the foundation for my passion as a chef as well as a culinary educator. After honing my skills under Chef Eve Felder as a Lunch Chef then as Chef de Cuisine at V. Mertz restaurant in Omaha, I enrolled in and graduated from the CIA in Hyde Park, NY. I was the very first extern to submit my resume to David Bouley at his restaurant Bouley on Duane street; Barry Wine offered me a position at the Quilted Giraffe after a stage. Unfortunately both opportunities would have required that I relinquish my formal education for either position, so I politely declined. I knew that my chosen trajectory in which I sought to to train would be of a high echelon that required some painful sacrifices and demands but I was created, ready yet built for the challenge. My faith in God was the centrifugal force that brought me the entirety of my journey and continues.
For the past nearly 40 years in NYC I began my work as a private chef to Randolph and Veronica Hearst then immersed myself in restaurants under chefs Jeremy Marshall at Cafe and later at Aqua Grill, Peter Hoffman at Savoy, Walter Hinds at Two Eleven and Match Uptown, Neal Murphy at Symphony Cafe, David Burke at Park Avenue Cafe and Normand Laprise with Ralf Kuttel at Cena; catering with chef Jacqueline Frazer, Shelly Boris as well as a culinary educator at WHEDCO and Star Career Academy. I worked as a private chef for several UHNW individuals and families, as I am currently now, as well as the Chef for a very small graduate school of NYU on the UES. My working career has been a conglomeration of very interesting niche opportunities that has afforded me the privilege of experiencing luxurious lifestyles of the weathy and to meet interesting people from all walks of life. This has included travel to places such as cooking in the Alps in Zermatt, Switzerland, working in a castle-The Bend-on the Wytoon Estate of the Hearst Family in northern California, live/working privately in the Setai Hotel in South Beach, The Hamptons, Greenwich, CT as well as television live and taped segments on KMTV in Omaha, NE for Great Chefs of Omaha in the 80’s.
I am currently the owner of a 1790’s historic colonial home in the Catskills that I am seeking to restore and respectfully incorporate an event space and state-of-the-art teaching kitchen as a creative space for professional chefs and creatives to utilize, recharge mentally and create or guests that would like bespoke culinary/artisanal educational retreats with guest chefs and artisans. I’m excited about these future endeavors because I am descending into retirement and this will give more time and a place to create freely and collectively with other chefs/artisans as well as finish writing my professional life work journal to be pressed for a book.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Quality: Passion. Without it I could have never gained knowledge, accomplished my career goals, develop my character to understand how to respect, work with and handle people mentally to obtain the very best from them as well as myself
Skills: Research, Recipe Development and Consistency. I had to read voraciously during the 80’s because computers were rare. I watched television shows both national and international (in French with subtitles)from age 11 to obtain knowledge as well as a visual for understanding the techniques of the craft and culinary terminology that would serve me well as a educator. This led to cooking at home and masking mistakes and failures before interning the workforce as a teenager and began understanding consistency through creating recipes and making drawings of plates to understand placement and design. All of this modeled my methodology and approach to food and cooking as well as how I trained others I worked with to share the same vision.
Area of Knowledge: Fully understanding the foundational classic cuisine and its role that undergirds all that we do. So even in this high tech environment and modern movements in food-it will always go back to the classics which in my opinion are never out of style, exceptionally versatile and functional. I love perfecting a simple brioche while pushing the limits of taste, texture and visual appeal without sacrificing what it really is. I aspire to present real food beautifully and simply by revolutionizing the classicisms of cuisine into modern interpretation-yet remaining true to for, taste and appearance. I believe that to move forward in food we have to go backwards and revisit, remaster and reinterpret to reinforce a movement or vision
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
They believed in, disciplined and supported me-correctly.
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