Twenty years ago, things weren’t so different: That same blue Bragard apron already had its hold on a generation of rising chefs, though it was more iPod than iPhone. We asked chefs who were on the come-up in the early ’00s to dig back into their memories and weigh in on what one might expect to find in a tote bag slung on a knife-tattooed arm in 2005.
Some brought up old vices that fueled chefs of the day — “it wasn’t as weird to go outside in the alley and smoke back then,” says Lane Regan (then of Piccolo Sogno and now of the Milkweed Inn). Others shouted out items that still feel essential today.
Marco Pierre White’s White Heat
“I was living the lifestyle that I thought all chefs led: I worked as many hours as possible, I stayed out late in Chinatown every single night, I worshipped Marco Pierre White and had a copy of White Heat in my bag at all times.” — Jamie Bissonnette (then: Eastern Standard; now: BCB3 Hospitality)
“We were at the beginning of Japanese knife culture.” — Laurent Tourondel (then: BLT Steak; now: Laurent Tourondel Hospitality)
Memorabilia from the Subway Inn in NYC (a napkin, matchbook, receipt)
“You would go there and see people who worked at Le Cirque, Aureole, the different high-end restaurants on the lower Upper East Side.” — Andrew Carmellini (then: Café Boulud; now: NoHo Hospitality Group)
“I had a very special spoon. It held just the perfect amount of sauce, and it had the word ‘diva’ on it. I don’t think of myself as a diva, but I thought it was kind of gay. I used to bring it to events — until I almost lost it, and then I stopped. That was the one tool that I was a little bit crazy about.” — Anita Lo (then: Annisa and Rickshaw Dumpling Bar)
Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn’s Charcuterie
“Everyone had it. It’s still a classic and a must-have.” — AL
iPod (4th or 5th generation) with wired headphones
“That was the time of LCD Soundsystem at Webster Hall, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. That start of the Brooklyn rock era, that was pretty hot on my list.” — AC
“They wore the blue ones in the photos of the French Laundry and I was obsessed with those guys. My chef’s jackets and aprons were clean, but nothing else about me was — I was feral.” — JB
Moleskine notebook, pen, a Sharpie or two
“Now, everything’s on Dropbox and Google Drive. Then, it was a Moleskine I could keep in my pocket.” — AC
“I believe that was the era when I was learning how to text.” — AL
