FYIDC | THE DISH
FRANCE TO TABLE Texas-born, French chef Sebastien Archambault found success at Blue Duck Tavern dishing up traditional fare with Gallic twists. B Y L A U R A WA I N M A N | P H OTO S B Y TO N Y B R O W N
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everal months ago, Washington Life sat down with chef Fabio Trabocchi and his 9-year-old son Luca to learn how the fatherson duo enjoyed working together at their restaurant Casa Luca. Little did we know that across town at the Park Hyatt’s Blue Duck Tavern, a grown-up, Luca-like tale existed for Executive Chef Sebastien Archambault. Practically born into the restaurant business, Archambault remembers cooking by the age of 5, baking apple pies and assisting in his parents’ restaurants on weekends, holidays or anytime it was busy. “It was a hobby for me at first and became my real love after helping out for 17 years,” the Texas-born, France-raised chef says. “My mother worked the front of the house and my father was the chef in back.” Despite his culinary upbringing and it being the family business, Archambault’s mother encouraged him to pursue other studies in college, which led to a degree in biology. But after much thought and a heart-to-heart with his father, Archambault admitted that science was not his passion, and he returned to his first love of cooking by attending Ferrandi, the French Culinary School of Arts, in Paris. His training gave him access to big names such as Guy Savoy and Alain Ducasse, but he met his life-long mentor, Jean-Francois Rouquette, in 2000 at Restaurant la Cantine des Gourmets where he started as a line cook and worked his way up to sous chef. “Jean-Francois guides me still today and gives me direction,” Archambault says. “I believe in always working hard but you cannot succeed without a little lucky touch of who you meet and staying in contact with everyone you work with.”
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After several years of following Rouquette’s advice, which led Archambault to an executive chef position in Mexico and then Restaurant Le Pirate in Corsica, (which earned a Michelin star during his tenure) he started a consulting business with his wife. Soon after, Archambault followed Rouquette’s advice all the way to Los Angeles, Calif. “He told me I should really take advantage of my U.S. citizenship and get to the states, so my family and I moved,”Archambault says. At the Andaz West Hollywood hotel, where he served as executive chef of the RH Restaurant, Archambault met Brian McBride, who spent more than two decades working in Park Hyatt restaurants including his last five at Blue Duck Tavern. When McBride departed in December 2011, Archambault was his first choice to replace him, as he believed the chef ’s seasonal, farm-to-table approach to cooking would be a perfect fit for Blue Duck. “It was definitely a challenge taking over [from him]. Brian elevated [Blue Duck Tavern] to where it is and I knew I wanted to keep it there, but also put my own stamp on things,”Archambault says. In two years, putting his own stamp on things has included securing a RAMMY award for Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year, adding dishes that are reminiscent of what locals would have eaten 100 years ago, such as fried chicken liver and grits and launching a gluten-free breakfast menu this month. Going forward, Archambault plans to keep his focus on developing his team and nurturing budding chefs as that is “what he is most excited about right now.” “Everything is about the team,”Archambault says. “Without the team there is nothing you can do.”
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