The Chef’s Table

The kitchen at L Campo is open by design: the glass, the pass, the counter you can see from the street. What you see is how clean it is, how food is handled, how food safety is practised, and how a plate is served. All of that is meant to be seen. If you want to explore it, you can.

Every station has its own refrigeration, its own workspace, its own storage and its own cooking equipment, stocked before service. Every station has a screen and a printer, and executes its orders on its own. The stations do not depend on each other. Nobody waits for anybody.

That is what makes the kitchen quiet. I am not big on talking on the job. I like a room where people can concentrate on the task in front of them, and a kitchen where each station is complete is a kitchen where nobody has to shout.

At the back of the kitchen, between the spice shelves and the range, there is a table for up to 8. The cooks work around you. You see the rabbit go on the grill and the paella go on the flame, and you see them come off. We held 12 chef’s tables in the last year, and every one of them was a good night, for the guests and for me. I will keep holding them, on some occasions, in autumn, winter and spring. The table is in honour of an evening my wife once gave me: a kitchen table at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago on 30 August 2012, the last one he cooked before the restaurant closed. I still have the menu. The story is here.

An aperitif to begin. Then 6 courses, written for your table and agreed with you beforehand, each with a wine poured as a tasting, 2 ounces a glass. Sparkling water, still water and soft drinks are included. I am with you all evening: cooking, serving, answering.

The evening is $300 a person, gratuity included: $1,200 for four, which is the smallest table, up to $2,400 for 8. There is no service charge. Tax is extra. Book 7 days ahead at the least. Guests are 18 and over.