Roland G. Henin

by Susan Crowther

  Beth Brown

  Chef Partner at 45 Surfside Bakery & Café

  I would ask, “What do you think?” He’d say, “Ehh, it is your life.” He’d walk away and I’d think, All right, I’m going to redo this.

  BETH: I did my apprenticeship program at the Balsams. We had our Annual Culinary Symposium where chefs come in and do demos. This was around 2005, the year before DN took over, so I met him as a chef, not my employer. There was a hubbub of activity about who he was. All these apprentices and recent graduates were going around the kitchen. Thomas Keller had described him as Zeus, and that’s such an accurate statement. Without even standing next to or working near him, just his stature alone…. He came up to me while I was cutting whole chickens. I had all my chickens on ice and I’m cutting, and I remember him coming up to me. He asked me how long I’d been cooking and I told him I just graduated. I was so nervous, just cutting chickens….

  Soon after, DN took over management. Chef came up, doing a dinner for the Jacobs. I was his commis. I still have the menu tucked away. We served braised monkfish. Some mise en place had already been done. Somebody cut a ramekin of chives—uneven, like lawn mower clippings. Chef Henin had his own ramekin of beautifully sliced, even chives. He wasn’t mean about it. He showed me the chives on the table and showed me his and said, “We’ll use these. These are nicer, huh?” I said, “Oh yeah, right.”

  That stuck with me. I taught at the Boston Cordon Bleu for years and would tell it to my Foundations classes. Here’s a man who took pride in something as little as slicing chives. I was a recent graduate and could use my knife, but wasn’t so skilled then. I practiced slicing these beautiful chives. I now show my students that you take care of the little things. It’s all about the details.

  Chef Henin recruited me to help test recipes on a couple of DN cookbooks. Chef says to me, “I could write cookbooks, take all the profits, and buy a Corvette, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about teaching the next generation of cooks.” He would say, “You’re going to be the next generation when I’m gone.” Wow, he could be all over, doing anything he wants, and this is what he wants to do. He wants to train me. He wants to train my other mentors, like Percy Whatley and Ambarish Lulay. That definitely resonated. It’s something I honor and value. I tell this story when teaching students who have these great ambitions to be rich and on television. It’s not about that. It’s about passion, and doing it, loving what you do, and passing the craft on.

  Recruiting me to work on the cookbooks allowed me to meet so many great chefs in the company. I got to do a little traveling with the books, and I’m kind of backtracking here, but he was one of the biggest influences in my culinary career. I don’t think I’d be where I am today without him recognizing this. He took me as a graduated apprentice, lined me up to do the books, and pushed me in the direction to take my first management position. He guided me all along the way.

  He also saw that I wanted to be mentored. I know I don’t know everything and am open to constructive criticism, which he always gives, of course. That attracted me to him, the fact that I’m working alongside this fantastic chef giving me a lot of opportunities. You keep your mouth shut, you listen and watch. It’s not so much about talking, just setting up a board. His cutting board would be next to your board. He was always right alongside you, whether it was four hours or twelve.

  The last time I saw Chef Henin was relatively recently. Before we moved to Nantucket, he flew into Boston. “Pick me up at the airport,” he said. My husband and I had just a two-seater truck, but we wanted to see him. We’d also just moved to Boston. I didn’t even know how to get to the airport, and I’m kind of freaking out, so my husband, Jeff, drove. I’m on the floor of the back of a pickup truck, pregnant with my son. We sit down to dinner and begin talking to him about our move. I had been gone from DN for over five years, and here I am, sitting with Chef Henin, asking him career advice and wanting to hear what he has to say. Just because I’m gone from the company, he’s not forgetting about me and moving on. He’s still there for me, and that is amazing because in today’s world, I mean, sure, you can keep in touch on Facebook, but to sit down to dinner and give advice about the next move means a lot.

  He has a lot of sayings—some of which I’m sure are not appropriate to be in print, but two of which can be that I use a lot, too. Anytime he had a cooking tip to make your life easier, he’d always say, “Five bucks. Five bucks.” At this point, I’m forever indebted to him. I don’t think I could pay him back enough of those five bucks, because he’s given me lots of tips! The other one that always made me question is: “It is your life.” When you’re doing something, and it’s the end of your day, and you’re tired, and you think it’s good enough, and you put it away, I always hear his voice in the back of my head: It is your life. You do what you want. It is your life. You hear that voice and hear, it is your life, and think, Well, maybe this isn’t the best I can do. That’s what he’d always say if you were working on a project. I would ask, “What do you think?” He’d say, “Ehh, it is your life. It is your life.” He’d walk away and I’d think, All right, I’m going to redo this. That’s how you always knew.

  When we were traveling for the cookbooks, I was a lot younger than he was, and I said something about being tired. He replied that he had lived in a hotel over 230 days that year … just unbelievable. The man has crazy stamina. He pushed me to do my ProChef. He’s the main reason why Delaware North has these chefs. DN is a big corporation, and sometimes when corporations get that big, they tend to lose quality. It wasn’t good enough to do the ACF certifications; he pushed you to do the ProChef certifications. He pushes for the ProChef because it’s a much more intense and demanding certification. It was a week long, with a lot of written tests and a lot of cooking tests. Being a Certified Master Chef, you have to have your ProChef I, II, and III. It’s a normal progression, and he values that.

  When I worked at the Ahwahnee Hotel, he would come for the Bracebridge Christmas pageant. We would serve beef tenderloins. He’d come and set up and be in there with us slicing tenderloins. How clean he worked—how neat, clean, and precise … an art form. Also, Chef showed his human side. “I’m a Master Chef and people think I can’t do anything wrong. They look at me crazy if I’m slicing something and drop a slice of cucumber on the floor—a fucking cucumber!” That’s how he talked. “I’m a Master Chef, but we all make mistakes.”

  I always worked in the culinary field. I got hired as a dishwasher at fourteen, and they quickly moved me to the line. Throughout high school, I worked in different restaurants and the country club in town. I wanted to go to culinary school, but there were things that drew me to the Balsams. I looked at Johnson & Wales. I looked at CIA. Then I went up to the Balsams and absolutely fell in love. It was four years and six externships, and I love to travel. This is it. This is where I want to be. I graduated and stayed there a few years. With the help of chefs Henin and Percy, I took my first sous-chef position at the Ahwahnee where I stayed for a while, then ended up transferring again when DN opened up MetLife Stadium. When I left DN in 2011, I ended up in New York City with a catering company. From there, I realized I wanted to have a family and get closer to home, so I got a job teaching in Boston. Recently, I moved to Nantucket with my chef-partner.

  I share the same philosophy about cooking, making sure the next generation is learning and instilling the basic fundamentals. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a woman or a mother, but I tend to be more nurturing. There are times where I think Chef Henin probably made a few people cry. I don’t know. That can be off the record. So, I think I’m a little bit, maybe more gentle in my approach. When you’re in the industry and you see somebody, you’re like, There’s something there. We can make this person better. You find those people and do your best to show them everything you’ve learned. When I was teaching, I saw some students go above and beyond. Those are the ones you pick out to help.

  Ashley Miller

&nb
sp; Executive Chef, Kalaloch Lodge, Delaware North

  As a mentor, he was more concerned with how he might have failed us as opposed to how we had failed him.

  ASHLEY: I first encountered Chef Henin in 2003. I had finished my externship at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite and started as a line cook at the Wawona Hotel, located near the south entrance. This is where I met my true mentor, Percy Whatley. Chef Percy was the executive chef at the Wawona Hotel at the time and was one of the most informative, instructive, and kind chefs who I had ever worked with. I’ve worked with Percy Whatley for about fifteen years; Chef Henin had mentored him.

  Chef Henin came for a routine visit to Yosemite, checking in with Chef Percy. I ran into them on the back deck of our kitchen and Chef Percy introduced us, informing Chef Henin that I had recently finished my culinary schooling. I was the only cook at the hotel that had a culinary degree at the time. Chef Henin’s response to this was “Very good. It is important that we bring in cooks who have a good understanding of the basic principles of cooking.” He thanked me for my service, and I did not see him again for a few years.

  Chef Henin’s influence through Chef Percy shows. Previously, Percy would offer a couple notes. Since going through the CMC exam, Percy is now more detailed with his suggestions, especially the flow and theme. “How do the items work together on the plate? How do the plates work together as a whole?” With my CCC test, he broke down my menu completely. I probably would have squeaked by, but after the changes he and Chef Henin made, I ended up with a fairly high grade.

  In a recent certification test, I was going for a more modern touch, but was all over the board, doing a little bit of Asian and other styles. I sent my menu to Percy. He completely tore down the menu and wanted me to stick to one style. He guided me toward the classics. With my chicken dish, he suggested a chicken chasseur. Percy sent me tons of notes, going over where I should make changes. Chef Henin also came out for three days to work with me on this project. Roland reviewed Percy’s notes and stuck to Percy’s decisions, but also suggested changing simple things like my sautéed spinach. Percy suggested a spinach pancake. It progressed from spinach sauté, to the pancake, to Chef Roland’s suggestion of spinach custard, which demonstrates more technique.

  There is a lot to be said about collaboration versus your own creativity. You miss things working alone; having that input helps me to understand, This is where I am lacking and this is where I should go. The culinary field can be a little bit egotistical, so collaboration can be tricky. I’m always open to constructive criticism. If you aren’t, you’re going to stifle yourself. You can move at a faster rate of progression, working with people.

  I left DN for a couple of years to work outside the corporate realm. Two years later, Chef Percy reached out to ask if I might be interested in returning to Yosemite. They were in need of some sous-chefs. I began working for Executive Chef Michael Gover. That was when I had my first real experience with Chef Henin as a mentor.

  I was set to take my CSC (Certified Sous Chef) testing in Chicago, at Kendall College. Eleven DN chefs from all over the United States were training for five days to take the test. Only a couple of chefs were truly prepared … it was a massacre. Chef Henin worked with us for the five days prior, but it was too late. No amount of help would pull us out of this mess. I believe only two chefs passed their Practical. I was not one of them. We felt like huge disappointments, not only to ourselves but to the company, our chefs, and to Chef Henin, who had spent time supporting us. After all of that, I overheard Chef Henin speaking with our VP of food and beverage for our parks division. They were more concerned with how they had failed us. What could they do to prepare us, in the future? There was no backlash. No one scolded us for our poor performance. We were hard enough on ourselves. As a mentor, he was more concerned with how he might have failed us as opposed to how we had failed him.

  The best experience I had with Chef Henin came recently as I prepared for my next level of certification—the CCC (Certified Chef de Cuisine). I sent a copy of my menu with photos to Chef Percy. He completely broke down my menu and had me start from scratch. I was heading in the wrong direction and needed more focus to the menu. He mentioned to Chef Henin that I was working on my own and could use some help. Chef Henin is in my region and volunteered to come out and work with me, one-on-one, for three days. I jumped at the opportunity.

  When Chef arrived, we reviewed my menu with Chef Percy’s notes. He added items that showcased skills that were difficult to accomplish in the amount of time given. He showed me a better way of thinking. I crammed everything into each practice session, trying to get it all done in the allotted time, instead of focusing some practices on doing everything correctly or breaking practices down into sections. Our first practice went way over; the food was looking good, though my station was a mess. Chef asked me if I had ever visited a French bordello, because that is what my station looked like!

  We reviewed my mistakes and successes. He pushed me to not take the easy road for a passing grade, but to try to get the highest score possible, in order to test my skills to the limit. I was doing things like pulling all the tendons out of a chicken thigh that I was not even using, to show the judges that I knew how to do it properly. Had I gone in on my own, I would have only broken down the parts I needed. That was another thing they both taught me: you need to cut down the whole thing. Pull out each tendon, whether or not you use it, to show the technique and prepare the product for later use. Chef Henin insisted I put them on the plate, so judges could see I fabricated the chicken. They also both had me fortify the stock before doing the consommé. We broke down the carcass bones for this.

  Another mistake I made was how I cut down a chicken, leaving the wishbone. Chef Henin showed me the proper technique for breaking it down, which takes more time, but gets every little bit of meat off the bones: fabricating chicken into small pieces; adding the bones; taking the time, then cooling down; then making the consommé, with the clarifying raft. It was unnerving, having all three judges standing in front of me and breathing down my neck the whole time. They had never seen anyone fortify the stock and worried that it wouldn’t be done in time. This was something I didn’t have to do, but it looked better in their eyes.

  When adding technique, you have to re-evaluate your timeline. Judges rarely see as detailed a timeline as mine. Chef Henin is very specific: write out every detail and follow it. During practice sessions, both chefs kept adding things: searing bones and fortifying the stock. Each practice, I’d have to rework the timeline. I stayed up all night to accommodate all the things I had to do. After three hours of sleep, Chef Henin was already there at my desk.

  After that training, I broke down completely. Chef has a triangular strategy: Mind-Body-Technique. I was missing all three. You practice for three days, thirteen hours a day, reworking timelines. No one’s getting much sleep, and each day adds more work. By the time of the test, you are exhausted, trying to get through it. But then, you discover you were building endurance for the test, all along.

  When I mentor, I focus on strengths, and then build up on what is lacking. Lead by example—work hard for your employees, or they will not work hard for you. New people may have a little bit of cooking skill. I move my dishwashers up to prep cooks and teach them the basics. Lead line cooks come up with specials. One of my line cooks is interested in making employee meals simple and nutritious. Go for it. Try that dish. Whether successful or not, they are enjoying it, and it keeps them creative.

  I’ve always looked up to Chef Percy. The first time I met him, he was sitting on the back porch … he and another chef, Crazy Larry, shucking corn in rocking chairs. Ever since then, Percy has always been there. Any piece of advice, he is always there to help and share, in any way I need. With Chef Henin helping me with the Practical exam, there was an opening. If I had any questions, he immediately responded. I feel a strong connection and bond to him. I was happy to have passed with a good score, but I was even more pleased t
hat I had been given the opportunity to work with such a great chef and leader, and I hope for more of these opportunities in the future. Hopefully, I’ll get to go fishing with him soon.

  Dawn Hedges; Nick Catlett; Juan Carlos Valdez; Aldofo Calles

  Travel Hospitality Team: Food & Beverage Summit Culinary Challenge

  I figured we just go to work and grind it out and one day, you run into a movie camera, and then you become famous. Chef Roland brought me down to planet Earth. “Hey, look, kid, quit dreaming and start doing.” —Nick Catlett

  DAWN HEDGES, BUFFALO/NIAGARA: My first interaction with Chef Henin was in January of 2016. I received a brief message from the general manager: “Chef Henin is in Buffalo. He’s flying back to Seattle and he’d like to meet with you.” I asked him what it was in regards to and how I should prepare for the meeting. “I’m not sure, just be ready.” Chef Roland flew in and we spent an hour in the office, talking. He wanted to know about my certification, where I was educationally, what my goals were, and how he could help to get me there.

  NICK CATLETT, NEW ORLEANS: It was the end of 2014 at the Summit in Buffalo. I just got Chef Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook. It was my first Thomas Keller book. I read how Chef Roland was his mentor and taught him how to cook offal, among a bunch of other things. I had wanted to meet Chef Roland ever since. When I saw him at the Summit, I’m like, Well, here’s my chance. We’ve got something in common: I own this cookbook and he mentored Thomas Keller. Like a goofball, I went over there and brought that up and we shared a laugh. I think he was laughing more at me than with me.

  We talked about certification, culinary acceleration, and my career—things I never thought about. I figured, we just go to work and grind it out, and one day, you run into a movie camera or something like that, and then you become famous. Chef Roland brought me down to planet Earth. “Hey, look, kid, quit dreaming and start doing.” That was the beginning. I was nervous as well, but ever since then, we stuck to the rail and now we’re reaching for the next goal, a twelve-month plan to ProChef II.