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  • [Music]

  • GREG GROSSMAN: My name is Greg Grossman and I'm 16 years old.

  • TERRE GROSSMAN: Greg was very young and people were calling him the prodigy chef and I just

  • wanted him to be a happy kid. GREGG GROSSMAN: We have an hour til the tasting

  • starts. We're just finishing up some final proteins.

  • SCOTT FELDMAN: I do think that you'll be reading magazines like Bon Appetit's Best New Chefs issue and

  • a Greg Grossman could pop up for sure. GREGG GROSSMAN: It wasn't just a job on the

  • side. It wasn't just a hobby. It wasn't just something I was interested in. Food really

  • became my life.

  • [Music]

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: [On the phone] It's an 8 course tasting menu but I'm sending someone outsomeone's

  • already out now buying backup wine. Right now we're at six courses and two desserts.

  • [Music]

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: So he needs to do a cognac bar blanc and a sherry reduction and a rosé sauce.

  • [Music]

  • GUNTHER BILALI: Hey Greg. GREGG GROSSMAN: How's it goin' boss?

  • GUNTHER GILALI: My friend Greg. GREGG GROSSMAN: Pleasure. It's great to meet

  • you. GUNTHER BILALI: I'm looking forward to see

  • if he could handle it quite frankly. This is the first time that I'm tasting his food.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: A piece of trout in the bottom, some of the raisin around it, olive oil...

  • [Music]

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: We're definitely putting our all behind this tasting and we're hoping that

  • his reactions are going to be positive. GREGG GROSSMAN: [To sous chef] Use the aromatic

  • veg, infuse the liquid. GREGG GROSSMAN: We're gonna try to give Gunther

  • a large spectrum of what we would like to do in the restaurant space, so we're going

  • to be covering seven courses and two desserts. All classic dishes from the 1920s reinvented

  • and reimagined in new ways.

  • GUNTHER BILALI: Have you noticed anything about the chef?

  • GUEST: That he's young? GREGG GROSSMAN: Sixteen.

  • GUEST: Sixteen? Really?

  • TERRE GROSSMAN: Greg was always doing things that surprised us as a young boy. The only

  • TV show on in his room was Cartoon Network and all of a sudden the Food Network was running

  • constantly. GREGG GROSSMAN: One day I came home from school

  • and told my mom to get out of the kitchen and said that I wanted to make her dinner.

  • I remember her popping in like every five minutes to make sure that I wasn't burning

  • the house down. TERRE GROSSMAN: I think that was the point

  • when I realized that he was amazing at cooking. GREGG GROSSMAN: I actually went into a kitchen

  • that was near me and asked to start dishwashing and bussing tables. My parents were definitely

  • a little wary at first. They didn't want their 8, 9 year old kid where there was knives and

  • fire as my mom would say. Or if the state liquor authority or child services came in

  • the restaurant probably would have been closed down.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: It was sort of that spark of this is what I want to do. I was really

  • driven to just go forth and learn as much as I possible could about food and cooking.

  • Someone from the New York Post actually came into my school. It ended up being a full page

  • which I was shocked at. There was definitely a turning point. After that, I had a lot of

  • people asking me to do things for them like getting to cook for Martha Stewart and all

  • of these amazing people was just a once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, really for

  • anybody.

  • [Music]

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: How much is it? VENDOR: Like $200.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: $200? VENDOR: I'll email you an invoice.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: That would be awesome. Thank you man.

  • VENDOR: Thank you. GREGG GROSSMAN: I appreciate it.

  • TERRE GROSSMAN: Greg has basically become a businessperson at a young age.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: I go to the professional children's school and my schedule changes on a day-to-day

  • basis depending on what I'm doing at work. It's a mix of working in kitchens and being

  • a chef, I'm always pursuing new opportunities, helping people who are trying to start restaurants...

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: [To agent] Thank you. SCOTT FELDMAN: I do worry sometimes are we

  • pushing him too hard? Is he pushing himself too hard?

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: We do need to figure out someone to go in a cab to the hotel in Reddington

  • right now. Ugh, you're killing me. GREGG GROSSMAN: Can we start rendering the

  • skin side now? TERRE GROSSMAN: I'm always in awe of the amount

  • of pressure and details he handles. GREGG GROSSMAN: [To Greg] Something burning?

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: Why is my mother here? I'm very confused.

  • GUNTER BILALI: His age was kind of a road block in the beginning but when I took the

  • time to get to know him, I saw his character and his level of maturity and all the factors

  • that made him special.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: We decided to serve a seared New York strip that has a pommes sal vi goat

  • which is a very old French recipe. SCOTT FELDMAN: You don't realize that he is

  • 16. You really do think you're talking to a very mature adult who's been in the business

  • for years and years. GREGG GROSSMAN: Oh, we need to caramelize

  • the baby fennel too. GUNTHER BILALI: The Bowery bought him all

  • this kitchen equipment and all these chefs are coming up to him. I was like—I was shocked.

  • It really was wild. GREGG GROSSMAN: I think it needs a little

  • acid, though. You agree? Rice wine vinegar orlime!

  • [Chefs discussing flavor]

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: I love this! I just wish it was for 30 people instead of 6.

  • [Music]

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: There is freshly caught and smoked trout smoked over cherry and apple wood and

  • on top there's a potato tuile. On top, the trout is covered in some vanilla oil. Enjoy.

  • [Laughing]

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: It's going very well. We've been on time with everything. I'm very happy

  • with all the food that's going out. Everyone seems to be happy with it.

  • GUEST: It's fantastic. The trout is excellent. GUNTHER BILALI: Great dish. The fish is great.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: It was a lot of hard work to put the tasting together in a very short

  • period of time. We were very concerned in the beginning about Gunther and his team's

  • reactions to our food. GUNTHER BILALI: I thought the food was very

  • creative. Cooked perfectly. The presentation was excellent. It was a great meal. I think

  • that we have an excellent foundation to build from and take it from there.

  • GREGG GROSSMAN: Obviously it's an amazing opportunity for someone my age to do something

  • like this and I'm very very happy, trilled in fact that they enjoyed it like they did

  • and we'll be able to move forward with Gunther on the new restaurant project.

  • [Music]

[Music]

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