Tim Hollingsworth – Celebrating Luxury and Mundane Food

Chef Tim Hollingsworth

What we covered in this episode

Chef Tim Hollingsworth shares how they are navigating through this current situation of the pandemic.
It is a heavy cost to reopen a restaurant. Everybody needs to rethink what they're doing with the restrictions.
Chef Tim Hollingsworth describes restaurant Otium as a more comfortable version of fine dining: both a neighborhood and a special occasions restaurant.
He explains how could adapt his menu at Otium for a to-go-menu.
Chef Tim Hollingsworth shares what is type of food brings him comfort at home.
He talks about his recent partnership with Blue Apron and how different it is to create a menu for them than creating a menu for his restaurants or meals at home.
Chef Tim Hollingsworth explains the reasons why he selected Los Angeles to launch his first restaurant.
He describes the thirteen years he has spent at the French Laundry and what he has learned from his mentor, Chef Thomas Keller.
Chef Tim Hollingsworth talks about his engagement in social media and especially their YouTube channel.
We talk about his approach to create a new dish.
Series of rapid-fire questions.
Link to the podcast episode on Apple Podcast

Links to other episodes in Los Angeles

Brad Miller – Amazing Food Trucks

Alison Trent – The Future is Collaboration

Submitted questions from podcast listeners

The top cookbooks that inspired Chef Tim Hollingsworth?

The French Laundry Cookbook.
Great Chefs of France.
The Flavor Bible.
I think people should buy books in different genres and kind of exhaust them a little bit. So whether it be I'm into Indian cooking and you pick out five Indian cook books and you sort of read through them and learn from them and make a few dishes in each and see the differences. Learn about a type of cuisine at that moment.

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For a lot of the restaurants, it is time to really rethink the model of a restaurant is today.

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This goes against what I do for a living to a certain extent, but, it's very important for people to eat at home together and have nice meals. You've seen a lot of restaurants pivot and offer those offerings to their guests.

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We've seen that takeout game definitely stepped up by some of my peers that have really executed great quality products and meals.

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Blue Apron offers the ability to get in front of people and encourage them to cook at home.

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What you're looking for is designing food that is going to challenged people to a certain extent. Introduce them to new flavors that maybe they haven't been exposed to before.

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When you start at the French Laundry, it's a very tough environment. You are not there for a job, you're there to get better every single day.

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The number one lesson that I have learned from Chef Thomas Keller is the constant push and drive and that nothing is ever perfect, and second, his ability to help develop chefs versus just cooks.

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