Paul Liebrandt on Ferran Adrià and Mangosteens

After working under top chefs like Marco Pierre White and David Bouley, Paul Liebrandt made a name for himself at Gilt, his first solo restaurant in New York. He specializes in adventurous flavor combinations (like green apple and wasabi) and innovative cooking techniques. He is currently in talks for a new venture in New York.

Foodies associate you with the molecular gastronomy movement, calling your techniques provocative and inventive. Are you comfortable with those descriptors?
People are going to say what they’re going to say, and it doesn’t make a difference what I do. The most important thing is the customer, and they seem to keep coming back. I don’t know if that’s because the food is risky or because it tastes great.

Can you give an example of one of your dishes that prompted a lot of curiosity?
Green apple and wasabi sorbet, with a little olive oil on top. We did it as a palate cleanser. It had a very fresh green-apple taste with fresh wasabi in the back.What cooking tool or device would people be surprised to find in your kitchen?
Fata paper. It’s clear paper that looks like Saran wrap. It’s heat-resistant up to very high temperatures, so you can cook in it. We make papiottes in Fata paper. As part of a vegetarian dish, we were cooking beets with pistachio in papiottes. You clip it at the table and get the smell of beets and pistachio ... it’s great stuff.

Where did you get it?
It comes from Italy. I was sent some from a friend and tried it out.

What ingredient excites you now?
Mangosteens [a fruit]. I had some recently in Europe and I was just, Wow, these are really tasty. They’re all over Southeast Asia; Thailand is famous for them. They have a mango lychee kind of taste. We can’t get Southeast Asian mangosteens in this country—they aren’t USDA approved. I know a lot of chefs who would love to have some here. [Editor's note: The USDA has announced that effective July 23, mangosteens from Thailand may be imported into the United States.]

Can your food, as creative as it is, be translated to events and still retain its edge?
Of course. I’ve done plenty of events, anywhere from 50 people up to 400. What you cook depends on the event and whatever you’re trying to achieve with it. You adapt your style for the volume, but you still follow the principles of good cooking. Whether you do 10 people or 500 people, cooking is still cooking. It still has to taste good.

So you think there’s still a place for creativity with event catering, right?
Yes, I think you can be creative. You have to keep an open mind—to other alternatives and possibilities. But it’s a balancing act. A great example is Ferran Adrià of El Bulli [in Cala Montjoi, Spain]. That’s a phenomenal guy who balances giving the customer what they want but keeping the soul of who he is.

What was particularly memorable at one of his events you’ve attended?
Everything—beautiful langoustines wrapped in porcini mushrooms. I gotta say, for an event for 250 people, it was great.

Does the idea of cooking for 500 appeal to you?
It’s not something I would want to do every single day, but I do events all the time, and when it’s successful, it’s great, because you’ve fed a lot of people high-quality stuff.