An American in Paris, a star in the kitchen

Striding along in knee-high leather boots and a tailored outfit, Rachael Harriman looks like the right fit for the Parisian street scene, one of the young, hip urbanites strolling down the Champs Elysee. But that look disguises her true identity: a young, hip urbanite chef overseeing the kitchens at the newish and rather edgy Sou’Wester restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. As its chef de cuisine, Harriman has finally come into her own in a city packed with really talented chefs. It helps, of course, that her training has been impeccable and her colleagues/mentors, equally so and at the top of their game: CityZen’s own Eric Ziebold and the French Laundry’s Thomas Keller.

As a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, the Rochester, N.Y., native interned in California at the French Laundry, before going to Paris for 1 1/2 years (the resemblance to a Parisian is not too far-fetched, after all). Her first few months in Paris were daunting.

“I had no French, so I had to learn the basics pretty fast,” she said. “After the first three months, I attended the Alliance Fracaise [to learn the language].”

As her French improved, so did her comprehension of French cooking. At her first job as chef de partie at the Michelin-starred Helen Darroze, she says, she learned about the foods of the south of France.

“I cooked with duck fat,” she said. “I never put oil in the pan. I worked all day long.”

Her second restaurant job didn’t hone her cooking skills, but she did learn how to manage a kitchen staff, no small feat for someone who was not yet totally fluent in French.

“But the biggest lesson,” she said, “I learned how to immerse myself in the culture. I was an American who stuck out like a sore thumb.”

For Harriman, who hails from a non-cooking family — though two of her great-aunts did own restaurants and her mother is a great home cook — ending up in the kitchen is a far cry from her initial choice of careers: nursing. But Harriman’s life changed after spending some time in a food-and-beverage program at Walt Disney World.

“I ran a cash register at a food court,” she said. “Then I pushed an outdoors food cart. Then I went inside to the kitchen, and took classes on food.”

How could she then have guessed she would end up working with James Beard Award-winner Eric Ziebold, who as her current boss, has proved a capable mentor. As Harriman recalled her early days with him, she said she soaked up knowledge like a sponge, going from zero to 100.

Collaborating with Ziebold on the Sou’Wester concept — “We do not serve Southwestern foods,” Harriman pointed out about the restaurant, featuring as it does foods of the mid-Atlantic region — Harriman researched online about the foods of this area.

What she has come up with dishes that ring true to the area, but that have received some innovative twists. Take the Chesapeake Bay Rockfish ceviche as a starting point then move on to her fried chicken sandwich, which is really a sausage, and you get the idea.

Q&A with Chef Rachael Harriman

What is your comfort food?

I make a lot of pasta. That’s what I like because it’s like a blank canvas, and you can make it rich or light. So many different options. And a pizza to clean out the fridge.

What is your cooking philosophy?

It is that you would have to be cooking from the heart. There’s a whole movement — smell, look, but don’t eat. But for me food is a conversation piece.

Which is your favorite cuisine?

French, classic French. I believe the most in it. It’s the basis for all my cooking.

Which is your favorite restaurant?

Proof for atmosphere, Matchbox for pizza, Full Key for Chinese, Vidalia and Trummer’s on Main.

What’s in your fridge?

Cream for coffee, butter, sparkling water, sorbet and not much else. When I cook at home, I go out and shop for the meal.

From the Chef’s Kitchen

Old-Fashioned Mushroom Soup

Serves 6

2 tbsps. butter

4 tbsps. minced shallots

2 lbs. mushrooms, chopped

2 tbsps. lemon juice

2 tbsps. chopped fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. ground black pepper

4 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups mushroom stock

For the roux:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup melted butter

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat and soften the shallots. Add the chopped mushrooms, thyme, lemon juice, thyme, bay leaf and black pepper. Cook until liquid from mushrooms has evaporated.

In another pot, mix together the heavy cream, chicken stock and mushroom stock. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.

To make the roux, cook the melted butter and flour together in a large saucepan for 5 minutes just to cook out the flour taste. Take the cream and mushroom stock mixture and pour into the roux a little at a time and keep stirring to prevent lumps. After all the liquid is thickened with the roux, mix in the mushroom mixture. Cook all together for five to seven minutes.