Chad Brauze was the Saucier/Tournant at Daniel Boulud's celebrated restaurant, Daniel in New York City. After four years there, he had worked his way up the ranks to Chef de Partie or head of the meat station, the most challenging of stations which has the lowest margin for error. At any given time, he could have 10 to 12 pieces each of 5 to 7 different meats--every one to be precisely cooked to the guest's desired temperature.
When Ashley Church arrived to work at Daniel in 2005, Chad was smitten with this talented, sweet and super spunky pastry chef from the prestigious Inn at Little Washington. (She was so good, she was quickly promoted to Chef de Partie.) Originally from North Carolina, Ashley's twang was halfway between a Southern drawl and a slight hint of one. As Chad says, "It was alive enough to pronounce 'men' so that it rhymed with 'win.'"
Chad liked Ashley so much, he began some inventive courting. "I would craft these little feasts for her in the middle of service, creating whatever I could find, stuff I knew she would like," he explains. "I'd go station to station, 'let me borrow some of that' or 'can I have a couple pieces of asparagus?'," says Chad, who also has a degree in math and computer science from Columbia University which he earned while helping Boulud produce his cookbook, Daniel: My French Cuisine.
Meanwhile Ashley was convinced the treats were status quo. "I thought, these people are so nice!" she says. She remembers Chad bringing her Daniel's classic black bass wrapped in crispy potatoes or a little tuna tartare. "Nobody really told me anything different or was giving me the elbow or the wink. So I just assumed that's how everything went," she adds. In fact her coworkers were even more thrilled because they weren't used to the extra special treatment. "Ashley was saying, 'this place is great! The cooks make us food constantly,'" says Chad. "They finally had to tell her, 'No, it's not always like this.'"
Usually at the end of the long night everyone went out for drinks. The conversation often turned to food. "Being from the South I once asked, "have you ever heard of shrimp and grits -- it's like polenta, but it's made with shrimp and brown gravy." Her co-workers, especially the French ones thought she was insane and responded: "'Shrimp WITH grits?!,'" recalls Ashley. "They felt that I'd just made it up."
And although Chad, a Michigan native was equally clueless about the dish, he saw a challenge and perhaps a window into her heart. "He made me shrimp and grits with fried green tomatoes. They were delicious," says Ashley. "I don't think he had ever eaten them before." Chad was so excited to see how they tasted and to make them for Ashley. "I thought maybe there is something here, she shares. "He is such a genuine guy, so easy to talk to and intelligent."
In 2007, they were among 45 cooks selected from a pool of over 5,000 to join the team at El Bulli, Ferran Adriá's temple of molecular gastronomy in Roses, Spain. Chad worked in the quart frio, where he explains, "all the fun spherifications and liquid-nitrogen work was happening." Ashley worked with Albert Adrià in the pastry section. Then they returned to the United States to both work at Thomas Keller's legendary Per Se.
Five years ago they were married in Central Park's tucked away tranquil treasure, the Conservatory Garden. Then they strolled over to Café Boulud for an intimate wedding reception for 30. The menu consisted of a beautiful standing rib roast by Gavin Kaysen followed by a traditional French croquembouche by Dominique Ansel who at the time was pastry chef at Daniel. And Ashley made another three cakes.
These days Chad is Chef de Cuisine at The Back Room at Park Hyatt New York. "I'm taking things I learned during my time at Per Se, Daniel and Rotisserie Georgette and thinking, wow I used this meat that time and really liked it. That's going to go on the menu," says Chad of his sumptuous cuisine. While Ashley is Executive Pastry Chef at Café Boulud. "I wake up every day excited to go to work," says Ashley. "Chad and I have been very fortunate."
Photo used with permission/Photo credit: Thomas Schauer
The Back Room
Photo courtesy of The Back Room at Park Hyatt New York