If you’ve been in the food community for more than 5 minutes, if you haven’t had the good fortune to meet Dorothy Cann Hamilton, you’ve certainly heard about her.  Not only is she the founder and heart of The French Culinary Institute in New York City, Dorothy is a culinary dynamo; she not only knows everyone in the business, she cares about them – finding jobs, placing “you must meets” together, planning centennials and celebrations, saving souls and institutions, and on and on it goes.  She is the ultimate fixer!

My long association with Dorothy and The French Culinary Institute (which she founded in 1984 and which is now known as The International Culinary Center) has certainly been a rewarding one (we have won 2 James Beard awards together).  My recent visit to the school found Dorothy just as gorgeous, feisty, and youthful as when we first met.  When I told her that I would like to share our friendship on my blog and wondered what she would like to share, she immediately answered, “Let’s talk about optimism”.  And this is Dorothy at her best……………..

“FCI has been around for almost 30 years and we are, I think, representative of the middle ground in American culinary history between the ‘old guard’ – Julia (we all know who Julia is), Jim (Beard), Joe Baum, Paul Kovi, Michael Batterberry, Bill Rice, Barbara Kafka (I interjected here as she could go on naming every important culinary personage of the past 50 years!) – and the new but there is no need to sit around talking about the old days.  The young pups are doing just as many extraordinary things now as we were doing in the beginning.”  And, she didn’t pause to say that The French Culinary Institute has turned out a great many of those “young pups”.

“The restaurant business of today is not producing the classic restaurateurs such as Sirio (Maccioni) and Andre (Soltner), but a new style of restaurant entrepreneur and, because of this, we are seeing a different kind of excitement in the business.  There is not the focus on the grand restaurant of the past but the ardor and impetuosity of our young cooks along with the international influences on the French classics are producing extraordinary meals in more casual settings.  I’ve just returned from San Francisco where we had a dinner at a new, young restaurant, Saison, which was as exciting as anything I have experienced either in Europe or New York”.

“Just look at something as simple as citrus.  In the early days, all we knew were lemons, limes, and oranges – now, chefs have a whole new palette of citrus to work with – yuzu, calamansi, kaffir lime, sudachi, finger limes, ortanique, all the ‘quats’, many of which reflect the exploration of Asian flavors.  We are almost overwhelmed with the profusion of wonderful fresh (and often locally grown) vegetables.  I am thrilled by the energizing enthusiasm and compelling experimentation of chefs such as David Kinch, Zac Palacchio, and Dan Barber (From me: the latter two I know are graduates of FCI).  These young guys have a healthy respect for the classic technique, but they are not afraid to build up and away from it.  I am wildly optimistic about the future of the men and women cooking in America today.  I want to go on record in stating that I think that they are hard working, focused, and disciplined.  I certainly don’t lament the old days”!

Dorothy was so busy extolling the virtues of young cooks that she never paused to tell me about her current activities.  But, I want to share some things about her that I do know.  Not only does Dorothy head the French Culinary Institute, she has an ongoing blog on the FCI website called Love What You Do (the title comes from a recent book she authored Love What You Do; Building a Career in the Culinary Industry) where you can keep up with her enthusiasms, of which there are many.  She has been busy this fall with the French Culinary Institute’s purchase of the Professional Culinary Institute in Silicon Valley, California.  This new venture will be called The International Culinary Center California and will house a west coast version of both The French Culinary Institute and The Italian Culinary Center with a focus on sustainable farming, aquaculture, and animal husbandry.  A very exciting venture!  One which will, I’m sure, contribute further to what Dorothy called “a tsunami of evolution in the culinary industry”.

If you want to keep up with the world of culinary excitement, visit The French Culinary Institute’s web site.  There you can meet with introduction to their many courses, including those for amateur cooks, read the blogs, meet the staff, and, in general, be lured in by the excitement of the world of culinary arts.  None of this would be there were it not for the foresight and enthusiasm and genuine love of good food, fine wine, and good conversation around the table that exemplify Dorothy Cann Hamilton.