Christopher
Koetke, Associate DeanChef Christopher Koetke is the former executive chef at Les Nomades in Chicago. His training, over 16 years, includes posts at Le Francais, as in numerous restaurants in the United States, France and Switzerland. He has a B.A. from Valparaiso University and participates in culinary competitions (finals of the Bocuse d'Or). Me
Michel
Richard “A great chef, who is cooking at a level that far exceeds any Michelin three-star chef in France,” states Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate (May 2003). “One of the finest displays of modern art,” says Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post (October 2003). “What you see isn’t what you get at Michel Richard Citronelle. The chef has already become legend for his playfulness,” writes Phyllis Richman in Food Arts (September 2003).
Michel Richard was a pioneer in creating the revolutionary French/California cuisine that is now so prevalent. His style is light, fresh and intelligent, focusing on innovative combinations, witty presentations and always an element of texture. “His restless California cuisine is beautiful, offbeat and constantly changing,” states Ruth Reichl of the New York Times.
Richard knew he wanted to be a chef when he first glimpsed a restaurant kitchen at the age of eight. “The white hats, aprons, and all of the food – I fell in love,” Richard says now of the experience. His fate was decided. At fourteen, Richard apprenticed in a restaurant-run patisserie in Champagne, France. Three years later he moved to Paris where he quickly rose to the top position at Gaston Lenotre’s esteemed pastry shop.
But, like many other chefs of his age growing up during the Bocuse revolution, Richard wanted to move to America. The opportunity came in 1974 when Lenotre opened a pastry shop in the States. Unfortunately, America was not yet ready for Lenotre’s sophisticated French fare and the patisserie closed.
While Richard thought he would eventually move back to France, he was not yet ready. So, in 1975 he moved to Santa Fe for the opportunity to run a pastry shop serving simple meals. A year later he bought the shop finding that ownership was much more lucrative and creatively energizing. Despite his success, Richard explained that “Santa Fe was not a dream for an ambitious young chef,” and looked to the West Coast for his next move.
In 1977 Richard moved to Los Angeles, attracted by the power and glamour of the city. He opened Michel Richard to instant success. With the profits of his highly lucrative pastry shop, Richard traveled back and forth to France eating, learning and cooking in three star Michelin-rated restaurants.
In 1987, Michel opened Citrus as Executive Chef and owner, adapting
his native French cuisine to the tastes of Southern California. Citrus put
Michel Richard on the culinary map, and in 1987 was voted The Best Restaurant
in the United States by Traveler’s magazine. In 1988, Michel Richard
was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who”
in American Food
and Wine.
A year later, Michel opened Citronelle, offering a menu similar to that of Citrus, but in a more elegant atmosphere overlooking the ocean in the Santa Barbara Inn Hotel. With his financial partners from MeriStar Hotels & Resorts, Inc., he went on to open Bistro M in San Francisco, and Citronelle in Baltimore and Philadelphia. In 1994, Michel opened Citronelle in the Latham Hotel Georgetown in Washington, DC. Four years later, Michel decided to focus all of his efforts on the East Coast. In early 1998, after a $2 million renovation, Richard moved from Los Angeles to Washington, DC to cook full time at Michel Richard Citronelle. Now Michel considers the DC Michel Richard Citronelle his flagship restaurant.
Michel is the author of Michel Richard’s Home Cooking
with a French Accent, published by William Morrow in 1993. His philanthropic
endeavors include a Gala for which he organized 70 of France’s greatest
chefs to honor Julia Child and raised money for the American Institute of
Wine & Food. Michel was a nominee for James Beard’s, Chef of the
Year Award for 1996. The same year, he received the Five-Star Fleur de Lis
Award for Outstanding Restaurant. In the October 2001 issue of Gourmet, Michel
Richard Citronelle listed as one of the Top 20 Restaurants in
the Country.
In May 2002, Michel was voted by the Restaurant Association
of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) as the Best Fine Dining Restaurant and Chef
of the Year, an accomplishment that no other has attained in the history of
the RAMW. Citronelle is repeatedly the recipient of such high honors as Exxon
Mobile Four Star and AAA Four Diamond Award awards. In 2002 Michel Richard
Citronelle became an invited member of the internationally acclaimed Traditions
& Qualité, Les Grandes Tables du Monde, and 2003 brought the highest
honor of becoming a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux. Michel
has been a guest on many television shows including Good Morning America,
Food Network’s “Ready…Set…Cook!” and the PBS
series Cooking with Master Chefs, hosted by Julia Child.
In 1984 Mary Blanchard and Greg Sonnier met while working as apprentices under Master Chef Paul Prudhomme at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. It was at K-Paul’s that they fell in love with the crazy restaurant business and each other. They were later married in November 1987.
Greg left K-Paul’s in 1986 to work at The Grill Room in The Windsor Court Hotel. Frank Brigtsen also left K-Paul’s in 1986 to open an uptown eatery named Brigtsen’s, and soon after recruited Greg as his sous-chef. For the next 5 years, Greg honed his craft at Brigtsen’s while Mary worked all stations at K-Paul’s, eventually becoming the head baker and finding a creative niche for herself. She left in 1988 to start her own successful catering business. In April 1989 Greg and Mary were blessed with the birth of a daughter, whom they named Gabrielle, after Greg’s grandmother.
On March 10, 1992 Greg and Mary gave birth to a second Gabrielle, but this time it was their own restaurant. Located at 3201 Esplanade Ave., in historical Faubourg St. John, the funny triangular shaped building with only 42 seats was soon filled with locals craving a taste for the Sonniers interpretation of Contemporary Creole Cuisine. Even though Chef Greg's menu shows indebtedness to his mentors, he is very much his own man. The influences of both Paul Prudhomme and Frank Brigtsen are obvious in Greg’s complex sauces, bold tastes and unusual combinations, but there are enough differences to lend a unique identity to Gabrielle. His dishes are a bit lighter and in many ways more delicate than the local New Orleans cuisine. His grateful diners are delighted by the smoked chicken gumbo; meaty crab cakes with granny smith apple tartar sauce; tender, perfectly cooked BBQ shrimp on top of a sweet potato tartlet; melt in your mouth, slow roasted duck with an orange and sherry infused sauce and crispy skin, all on top of fried shoe string potatoes is a absolute favorite. Mary lends her talents as dessert master, turning out dreamy cakes, pies, and ice creams. She also manages the front of the house, as well as the extensive wine list.
At Gabrielle, the Sonniers have steadily carved their own identity with a
fresh twist to good old southern Louisiana Creole cooking. They have gathered
a firm core of both local and out-of-town clientele, which only reconfirms
that the Sonniers' style of Cajun-Creole cooking remains true to its origins
while offering a unique dining experience. The superior dishes are now served
in two intimate dining rooms now totaling 62 seats. The environment is brightened
with mirrored panels, large windows with lace curtains, white tablecloths,
fresh flowers, candles, and a cheerful staff.
Bon Apetit, Southern Living, Esquire, Travel & Leisure and Gourmet have
recognized the restaurant many times nationally for its excellence in contemporary-Creole
cooking. In 1994, Food & Wine Magazine named Chef Greg one of the "Top
Ten New Chefs in America." The restaurant’s wine list has garnered
The Wine Spectator’s “Award of Excellence” since 1998. The
well-respected Zagat Guide grants Gabrielle a high rating of 27/30.
Locally, The Times-Picayune named Gabrielle as one of the “top ten” restaurants in New Orleans and has bestowed upon the restaurant a 4 “bean” (out of 5) rating for the last 11 years. Local food critic and radio personality, Tom Fitzmorris credits Gabrielle 96 out of 100 points. New Orleans Magazine selected Mary and Greg as two of the “50 People to Watch” in 1992, and named Greg “Best New Chef” in 1994 and “Best Chef” in 1998.
They have each been featured on “The New Garde,” a television series produced by Great Chefs Television Productions. In 1996 producers of CBS Sunday Morning chose Gabrielle, its staff, and their trip to cook at the James Beard House in New York City, as the subjects of a documentary on the house that James Beard built.
Juggling the responsibilities of owning and operating a busy restaurant and being parents to Gabie and Gigi, born in 1999, leaves the Sonniers with little free time. However, sailing for Greg and gardening for Mary remain great passions. Mary has designed a small edible garden outside the restaurant that provides herbs and flowers as garnish for the innovative dishes that have made dining at Gabrielle Restaurant a unique eating experience. In the near future, Greg and Mary hope to begin testing recipes to fill the pages of their own cookbook!
Robert
Wiedmaier Proprietor and Executive Chef Robert Wiedmaier, born in Germany of Belgian descent, attended the Culinary School of Horca in the Netherlands. He apprenticed at the Thermidor Restaurant, a Michelin 2-star establishment in Hulst, Holland and then moved to Brussels to work at the prestigious Eddie Van Maele. In 1986 he became Chef Saucier for Le Chardon D'or. In 1988, Wiedmaier was named Chef Poissonnier at Le Chardon D'or. In 1988, Wiedmaier was named Chef Poissonnier at Le Pavillion, which featured the finest nouvelle French cuisine in the city. After eight years with Doug McNeill at the Four Seasons, Wiedmaier opened Cafe on M at The Grand Hotel in 1994. In 1996 he was recruited as the new executive chef for the Watergate Hotel, the position formerly held by the late Jean-Louis Palladin of over twenty years.
On March 22, 1999 Robert Wiedmaier broke out on his own opening his restaurant
Marcel's which he named after his young son. In February of 2000, Robert Wiedmaier
was invited to the James Beard Foundation to prepare an authentic Belgian
dinner representing his restaurant, Marcel's. Chef Wiedmaier's restaurant
has appeared on the Food Network, Discovery Channel, WETA, and a variety of
cable shows. The Washington Post Annual Dining Guide has featured Marcel's
every year since its opening as has the Washingtonian Magazine for their 100
Best Restaurants issue and awarded Marcel's a Blue Ribbon winner in 2002.
Marcel's most recent top honor is the induction to the prestigious DiRoNA,
the only anonymous restaurant inspection program in North America.
