Alexia Duchêne (Le Chêne, NYC)

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Alexia Duchêne's West Village (NYC) restaurant Le Chêne opened about eight months ago, and has already found its rhythm as a home for Alexia's personalized yet unmistakably French cuisine. In this conversation, the still-young chef--who cooked in Paris and London before moving to the US--shares the familial and professional influences that helped unleash her culinary style; what her Top Chef experience was like; and some principles of hospitality that every aspiring chef and/or restaurateur should hear. She also discusses her love of New York City, and the journey that led her to open Le Chêne.

Episode host/producer: Andrew Friedman

Producer: Roderick Alleyne

Videographer/editor/mixer: Victor Michael Thelian

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Andrew is a writer by trade. If you'd like to support him, there's no better way than by purchasing his most recent book, The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food (October 2023), about all the key people (in the restaurant, on farms, in delivery trucks, etc.) whose stories and work come together in a single restaurant dish.

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Please also follow Andrew's real-time journal of the travel, research, writing, and production of/for his next book The Opening (working title), which will track four restaurants in different parts of the U.S. from inception to launch.

For Andrew's writing, dining, and personal adventures, follow along at his personal feed.

Thank you for listening—please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback and/or suggestions!