By Michelle Cheung
The only table in the house, Cesar Ramirez's chef table in the Brooklyn Fare's kitchen
Chef Cesar Ramirez of Brooklyn Fare, gourmet food market by day and fine dining destination by night, is not your famed media-hungry celebrity chef. So the fact that reservations for his nightly dinners are booked through June is very telling. In Ramirez’s 10-seater stainless steel kitchen table, craftsmanship stays alive with culinary artisans at work every night serving more than 15 courses of salacious dishes featuring impeccable quality and creativity.
Though Mexican, Ramirez is a Francophile in the kitchen who got his start as a cook in a French bistro in his hometown of Chicago. But it is Ramirez’s work with David Bouley, in the restaurants Danube and Bouley, which solidified his reputation as a French chef. Ramirez’s food philosophy today comes from a combination of French and Japanese disciplines. In Ramirez’s words, “I cook food with French technique but with the Japanese mentality in terms of plating, simplicity, and high quality ingredients. Going to Japan changed my life. I had the most memorable experiences there. I went to a restaurant where the sous-chef cooked rice for 40 years and that’s all he did. They take a lot of pride in what they do.This is what we are trying to do here. I thought to myself, if I can do something like that, then I’m very lucky.”
Everything that Ramirez has put into Brooklyn Fare, in the daytime as a prepared food chef and nighttime as a fine dining master, pays homage to craftsmanship. He relates his work in the kitchen to fashion and in, particular, the art of tailoring. “The craftsmanship that they do in fashion,” he explained, “is the same craftsmanship that I want to apply to my cooking. One of my heroes is not a chef; he is designer Carol Christian Poell. His philosophy—keeping yourself very small, keeping yourself very in demand by creating quality products in limited quantities—is the philosophy that I try to follow in my kitchen. I think that’s the best way to do it. I could’ve gone bigger but that’s not what I want to do because I don’t want to lose the intimacy and connection I have with the customers.”
To be frank, Ramirez’s vision of quality, seasonal ingredients executed simply but perfectly is not entirely unique. Many chefs profess to this philosophy. However, I do believe that the exclusivity of his ten-seat restaurant and his craftsmanlike devotion to food (and not his ego) allows him to truly rise above his peers. My experience at Brooklyn Fare last December is the best meal (and the best deal) I’ve had in New York since I could remember. There are chefs who flourish through celebrity and then are the rarer ones, like Cesar Ramirez, who succeed by working hard, respecting traditions, and staying true and humble to their craft. And he is what makes Brooklyn Fare a rare jewel in a brightly bejeweled New York.
