Although Jordan Kahn may be one of the least understood chefs in America, there is no doubt that he is one of the most creative—a result perhaps of his grandmother’s influence. Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Kahn began helping his Cuban grandmother when he was five years old, spending hours watching her cook. “Ropa vieja, black beans, platanos maduros, and yucca are the flavors of my childhood. It’s like she was grooming me,” he recalls. “Although I think that my grandmother, like most Latin grandmothers, had a cultural responsibility to make sure the children are plump and chubby!”
When he was thirteen, his mother bought him Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook, and he read it cover to cover before the night was over. “I didn’t quite know what I was reading exactly, nor that it would change the course of my life forever,” he recalls. He took the book everywhere with him, and had soon memorized all of the recipes, anxiously dreaming of the day that he could start his cooking career.
Three years later he graduated high school early to attend Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, finishing the two-year course in just eight months. Shortly afterward he wrote a lengthy letter to Chef Keller begging for a job. Keller responded by offering a three-month apprenticeship at the French Laundry restaurant near Napa, California. “I was very, very lucky,” Kahn says. “Someone, out of nowhere, gave me the chance to touch the sky.” After three months, Kahn stayed on, learning to be attentive to little details from his newly found mentor, pastry chef Sebastien Rouxel, and gaining enough confidence and skill to eventually open Keller’s new venture, Per Se, in New York City as a pastry chef de partie.
He followed that job with several more before becoming head pastry chef at Varietal. Although the place closed some months later, diners and critics alike were impressed with Kahn’s unique desserts—unlikely items such as mushroom caramels and eggplant puree tarts with fish sauce and Thai chilies. “I was exploring various tastes and experimenting with boundaries,” he says now.
Kahn moved to Los Angeles, where he eventually opened Red Medicine, inspired by late-night visits to Chinatown with colleagues. Red Medicine was a game changer, offering delicate fusiony Nordic/Vietnamese cuisine paired with high-ticket Alsatian wines and an ear-splitting rock soundtrack. To Kahn, the pairing was obvious: “Our ingredients were from California, our abundant use of herbs was inspired by Vietnamese cooking, and our aesthetic was inspired by the new Nordic cuisine movement.” He immediately got rave reviews for dishes such as Japanese-style heirloom rice and spot prawns cooked tableside on hot stones. A couple years later, after the rent became too high, Kahn opened Destroyer, a futuristic-looking breakfast and lunch spot that serves comfort food with a twist—beef tartare with grains, say, or smoked egg cream and germinated radish.
But it’s his latest restaurant, just across the street from Destroyer, that’s attracting buzz now. Kahn calls Vespertine “the most important thing I will ever do, with the exception of perhaps children. It is what I will be remembered for.”
CURRENT HOMETOWN: Los Angeles, California
RESTAURANT THAT MADE HIS NAME: Red Medicine, Los Angeles
SIGNATURE STYLE: Food as art
BEST KNOWN FOR: Vespertine; his job at French Laundry at age seventeen; and his rock star haircut
FRIDGE: Frigidaire
Housed inside an undulating corrugated metal tower known as the Waffle, the restaurant offers a degustation menu that disregards current fads. “At Vespertine everything is connected and is part of the whole,” says Kahn. Specially made black clay pots influence the presentation of his cuisine; customers are encouraged to lift leaves or search the bottom of the bowl for trout roe, white asparagus, or bougainvillea and other flowers that come from his garden.
But while his food at Vespertine may be complex, eating at home is simpler, and his kitchen reflects that. His countertops are pristinely barren; the walls are white, and his refrigerator is almost empty. Under the counter is a small collection of cookbooks, with a well-worn copy of The French Laundry Cookbook placed in a prominent position.
“I usually get home after work at about four a.m., so I eat an avocado with some salted yogurt or nuts, or ice cream,” says Kahn. Meals for friends also tend to be vegetarian. “Everything depends on the occasion, but cooking vegetables over a fire at my friend’s farm with lots of herbs, citrus, and fruit from the trees with large amounts of butter and olive oil is amazing.”
Kahn, ever reflective, remains philosophical about what he has achieved thus far: “Everything is the result of those who have had the greatest impact on my life: not only chefs but artists, musicians, painters, filmmakers, and photographers. I am the individual result of the art that has inspired me. Being thoughtful in your choices and rigorous in your methods can have a lasting impact on those around you, leaving beautiful memories.”
- CBW MUNICH PURE MALT EXTRACT—“What is neat about this is that it’s a little sweet. I will put it on top of ice cream or put it in a banana smoothie. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated but the cold makes it easy to scoop.”
- CREAM CHEESE
- BURNED ONIONS—“I use them for making a savory version of the Icelandic rye bread porridge.”
- MARIONBERRY JAM
- BROWN BUTTER
- BARREL-AGED SOY SAUCE
- LA CROIX—“I like most of the flavors except for the coconut. I hate that one.”
- ICELANDIC RYE BREAD—“I always have this in my fridge. One slice will allow me to go an entire day without eating anything else.”
- RED BOAT FISH SAUCE
- ZINFANDEL VINEGAR
- BEER, for rye bread porridge
- SESAME OIL
- SHIRO DASHI
Q & A
What do you always have in your fridge? I always have heirloom grits in my freezer. I’m originally from the South and grits are hard to find here on the West Coast, so I always buy large amounts when I can, and vacuum-seal them in small quantities.
What would we never find in your refrigerator? Alcohol, as I don’t drink. On rare occasions, though, I do use alcohol for cooking. I also don’t like frozen vegetables and microwavable “meals”—only ice cream.
What foods do you hate? Or never eat? I hate beef liver. I hate cooked salmon. I don’t eat raw garlic. After eating it, your body acts as a human reed diffuser, and you smell like garlic for days sometimes.
What is your favorite junk food? I have an unhealthy relationship with candy of all forms.
Who does the food shopping in your house? I do, and it usually consists of many flavors of La Croix sparkling water, ice cream, and yogurt. I usually shop at three a.m. or later, so it is usually a twenty-four-hour grocery store.
What is in your freezer? Ice cream, fruit pops, Mexican-style coconut pops called paletas—I have a mild addiction to sugar and heirloom grits.
Your favorite ice cream flavor? I don’t discriminate much with things that have sugar. My most recent discovery is Ben & Jerry’s Oat of This Swirled. It’s essentially oatmeal cookie ice cream but with no raisins.
Tell us about something really special you have on hand. I have some Zinfandel vinegar made by my good friend Stefan Hagopian. He is a biodynamic farmer/doctor of osteopathic medicine, and his produce plays a big part in Vespertine. The vinegar is made from his 2016 harvest, and is the most incredible wine vinegar I’ve ever tasted.
How did you discover malt? Why do you like to use it? I happened to find malt while I was shopping for sorbets and ganaches. When my pastry supplier is out of stock and I need something on the fly, I go to the brew supply store—it’s a good source for things like dextrose, glucose, sorbitol, et cetera. Malt is essentially an inverted sugar like glucose, but rather than being neutral, it carries the flavor of the malted barley. It is a type of sugar with very little sweetness, making it ideal for adding to savory dishes.
You don’t seem to have much fresh produce in your fridge—why is that? I live right near Vespertine so it’s easier for me to get produce from our walk-in refrigerator.