Inside the Kitchen: Six Questions with Georgie Chef RJ Yoakum

Oh, my God, it's gonna be hilarious. It's gonna be pretty ballsy, but just perfectly steamed rice with king crab. Or cacio e pepe—carbs on carbs.

My aunt gave me a Christmas present when I was nine, and she gave me a cooking lesson where we went into the store and we made a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was when she wanted to see if I was into cooking. She wouldn't allow anybody in the kitchen for holidays when she was cooking. And her doing that for me, it was the biggest eye-opening thing, because she made her own chocolate truffles and ice cream. She would read and do all the types of things that a professional chef would want to do or go to culinary school. She kind of instilled that in me. At 18, when I became a dishwasher, she bought me the French Laundry Cookbook, and ironically, I said in culinary school, I'm never gonna work at a French restaurant, but I ended up working at the French Laundry and at a French restaurant, and everything that I said I wasn't gonna do, I ended up doing. Yeah, she's one that got me all into it. She's not with me anymore, but her giving me that first cooking lesson was really what set me up for this.

I think so that's a fucking great question, because fine dining used to be like, it has to have a white tablecloth, it has to be proper, it has to be so buttoned up. But I think nowadays it has to be done the right way with professionalism and care. Everything you do when it comes to water, setting the table, opening the door for guests, I think it's just the professionalism we have behind it. It doesn't need to be in the fanciest restaurant or done with the highest quality wine glass, because I'm sure in like Spain or Italy, the restaurants are holes-in-the-wall, and they're some of the best restaurants in the world. But everything is done with care and love and intention, and that goes with the food too. You can make a humble ingredient into something luxurious.

There's a lot. I have a lot of personal goals, but I think definitely in the next few years, getting in the Michelin Guide and getting a star, but also achieving recognition for hospitality, like a James Beard Award for our group. Do I have goals for the restaurant, or do I have goals for the group and the individuals in it? Without all them, I'm really not that much.

Anywhere in the world, Frantzén in Stockholm. Dave Beran’s new restaurant Seline in Los Angeles. And César in New York.

I think it’s playful with powerful flavors and a deep understanding of technique and ingredients.