‘I always say that cooking is magic’

A Cameroon native, Ndjiki-nya grew up in Paris and attended school in Germany to learn the language, but when his dad asked the young teen what he wanted to do with his life, Ndjiki-nya stayed true to his French roots and love of French cooking and answered simply.

“I told him I wanted to cook,” he said. “I loved seeing how happy you can make people and hearing people say, ‘Thank you’ for the food.”

Despite his passion for his adopted country, Ndjiki-nya used to cook with his mom at home.

“I loved to help her cook,” he said. “African cooking can be very complex, so I would ask Mom, ‘When you do this sauce, how do you put it together to get one sauce?’ ” Figuring out kitchen basics in African and then French cooking set him on his pathway.

So at the age of 16, Ndjiki-nya knew he had found his life’s work: He started his culinary career by studying at the famous Lycee Hotelier in Paris.

“It was like the trunk of a tree,” he said. “It offered the basic with offshoots of basic cooking, pastry, butchering and how to run a kitchen.”

After the first year, students had to choose among straight cooking, butchering, the dining room or charcuterie.

“So I chose cooking,” he said. “I always say that cooking is magic. My payday is when people say the food is beautiful.”

Upon graduation, Ndjiki-nya worked in many fine Parisian restaurants, and as fate always plays itself out in unexpected ways, he worked the front of the house one day waiting on a diplomat, who told the young man that because he cooked so well, he really should try out his skills in the United States. He ended up moving to D.C., working at Lavandou in Connecticut Avenue and then for Gerard Pangaud, formerly of Gerard’s Place and Gerard Pangaud Bistro.

“He is one of the chefs I respect the most,” Ndjiki-nya said. “He taught me how Americans eat, because there is a difference between the French and the Americans. … I worked with him for two years.”

He obviously learned to please the Yankee palate, for he heard many patrons — who also had eaten in Paris — tell him his foie gras is as good as any in France.

Influenced also by other big-name French chefs in D.C., including Michel Richard and the late Jean-Louis Palladin, Ndjiki-nya has found his niche in the kitchens of this Georgetown favorite. He prides himself on his consistency, noting that if a customer pays $20 for a dish, it had better meet expectations.

“The boss is the customer. Everything is the customer,” he said.

Q&A with Chef Simon Ndjiki-nya  

What is your comfort food?

I want to eat good food to bring me down. The flavor of good food will bring me down. Simple and good.

Who are the most important influences in your cooking life?

I have my mother, Gerard Pangaud and Jean-Louis Palladin. And books. But Gerard Pangaud, he gave me everything — books, ideas. I’ll never forget him.

Which are your favorite restaurants?

Bistrot Lepic, Bistro La Bonne, Central, La Chaumiere. I need to try more if I have time.

What’s in your fridge?

Organic vegetables. I love vegetable dishes. And fruit.

From the Chef’s Kitchen  

Salmon in a Potato Crust

Serves 4

4 (5-oz.) fillets of Norwegian salmon

Salt and pepper

4 large Idaho potatoes, peeled

Cooking oil as needed

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Using a vegetable shredder, shred the potatoes, and squeeze out the excess water but do not wash. Wrap each fillet with the shredded potato.

Heat cooking oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Carefully place each piece in the pan one at a time, cooking each portion individually. Sear each piece until golden, 6 to 7 minutes on each side. Place each golden piece together in a baking dish. Finish in the oven for 5 minutes. Serve hot.