We were a part of a dinner for Julia Child at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura for the well loved and iconic chef in the early 1990's. The heavy lifting in cooking the dinner was done by some of Florida's best chefs... Robbin Haas (alas, now gone from us),was the chef at the time at Turnberry and was a great supporter of Florida everything. Florida chef Norman Van Aken and some from out of town celebrity chefs including Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter came in to put together a tremendous dinner. Some local Florida chefs also got to attend, and I was honored to be a part of that group.
After the amazing dinner, we had an opportunity to briefly meet and talk with Julia. She was bigger than life. She was tall and jovial, with the high pitched voice we were so used to hearing on her cooking shows...and just a delightful person. She was revered by everyone in the room. As she sat down to visit, we introduced ourselves and I noticed she had nothing to drink, so I offered to go a get her a glass of wine. With a quick smile and a laugh she looked at me and said in that so well recognized voice ' Thank you young man...but what I really want is a double Martini !" I was taken aback a bit. The most celebrated and famous chef - educator in the world chose a martini over the wines that were curated especially for the dinner. I of course ran like the wind to get her a martini !
I was pretty young then, and later talked to a few cooking colleagues about the incredible food and wine. We were all wine nerds in those days and we all wondered why Julia would want a gin martini vs. wine. God, we were just full of ourselves. That discussion wouldn't happen with me in these days. Looking back, I should've been more focused on simply providing what Ms. Childs wanted, be delighted that I had delivered as requested and continued to enjoy what was one of the most wonderful meeting I have had in the culinary world. It wasn't my place to think about why she wanted what she did....my focus should have been on her request.
What I've learned over the years is that understanding what people want versus what we think they want is the simple key to gracious....and successful...hospitality - and reflecting about that dinner for Julia all those years ago continues to bring me back and keep me grounded.
