Thomas Keller American chef, restaurateur and food writer. Date of Birth: 14.10.1955 Country: USA

Biography of Thomas Keller

Thomas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and culinary writer. Born on October 14, 1955, in Camp Pendleton, California, USA, Thomas Keller was the youngest of five children in the family of Edward and Betty Keller. His father worked as an offshore drilling instructor, and his mother owned a small café. After his parents' divorce, Thomas and his siblings moved to Florida with their mother. At the age of 16, Thomas had to find a job and started as a dishwasher at the Yacht Club restaurant in Palm Beach. He quickly mastered the culinary arts, particularly excelling in dishes with hollandaise sauce. Two years later, Thomas Keller met Ronan Henin, the chef of a French cuisine restaurant, who taught him all the secrets of French culinary techniques. Thomas went on to work in several restaurants in Florida before becoming the head chef at La Rive, a restaurant on the Hudson River near New York City.
After three years at La Rive, Thomas Keller moved to New York and then to Paris, where he took cooking lessons in several Michelin-starred restaurants. In 1984, he returned to New York and worked at La Reserve restaurant, followed by a position in one of the open cafes of the Raquel chain. However, Thomas left the Raquel chain to pursue his own personal concept of preparing French dishes. For some time, he worked as a consultant in various French cuisine restaurants in New York and Los Angeles. In 1992, Thomas Keller took out a bank loan and purchased a building that used to be a French steam laundry, built in 1890 in Yountville, California. He transformed it into a restaurant, which opened as The French Laundry in 1994. In 1998, Thomas opened his second restaurant, Bouchon.
By 2004, Thomas Keller had established a network of restaurants across the West Coast and even a restaurant and casino in Las Vegas. His classic French dishes and unique restaurant interiors have earned him several culinary awards and the highest ratings in the Michelin system. Thomas Keller is also the author of several culinary publications. He has been involved in the creation of the animated movie Ratatouille as a consultant and has made several appearances on television in various culinary shows.