Q & A with Juliette Pope & Ralf Kuettel
It all began in the kitchen at Zoe. Juliette Pope was a line cook, and Ralf Kuettel was the sous chef. The two have been together ever since, and in the process, both have achieved successful careers in the food world.
Juliette Pope started her career in the kitchen. She worked at Zoe and Union Square Cafe before moving to the pastry station at Gramercy Tavern. It was there she met Gramercy Tavern’s wine director, Paul Grieco who now co-owns Hearth and Insieme. Juliette Pope has succeeded in becoming one of New York City’s top wine directors.
Swiss-born Ralf Kuettel started at Union Square Cafe and later went on to become the executive sous chef of Zoe. He made his solo debut in 2007 at Trestle on Tenth in Chelsea. There, Kuetell does triple duty as the chef, owner, and the wine director. He pays homage to his heritage with a menu that focuses on Swiss wines and Austrian-bent dishes, like seared sweetbreads with morels and crispy baked pork belly.
Juliette Pope:
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Doctor
What was your first job in food?
Scooping, slicing and icing desserts at The
How did you meet your husband? Where did you go on your first date?
He was one of the sous chefs in my first line cook job (at Zoë in
You started off as a line cook at Union Square Cafe. What inspired your interest in wine & cocktails?
Most crucial was Paul Grieco. I was a line cook at Gramercy during the Tom Colicchio days and made the leap to the front-of-the-house there in anticipation of Ralf and I opening a restaurant some year. But I fell under the Grieco spell at my very first daily pre-service wine tasting and have never left the wine cellar since.
You also used to work as a pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern – which wines do you like to pair with Nancy Olsen’s desserts? How long did you work in the department?
I spent 6 great months as a pastry cook (not “chef” please) under Claudia Fleming after my 2 years as a line cook.
Gramercy Tavern has over five hundred bottles by the bottle. Have you tasted them all and how do you go about selecting wines for the list?
Almost all, exceptions being wines bought at auction or by allocation (top-end wines that you either take or you don’t. No tasting).
There’s also an extensive whiskey selection. Was that in place before you came or were you the impetus behind that?
It was largely in place, but as a native Southerner, a little extra bourbon and rye may flow through my veins and onto the list.
Gramercy Tavern’s wine program has won Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence three years in a row. How do you think you’ve achieved those accolades?
For such an odd mix of classic and esoteric bottles, the list has pretty good vintage depth and a wide range of price points, a little something for every palate and pocketbook.
Considering your husband owns and is the chef at
Not nearly as much as we’d like to, but we’ve only ever known each other as restaurant people, so we are pretty used to it.
Does he ever bring his work home with him?
Rarely. We certainly talk shop sometimes, but we’re pretty good about checking it at the door and vegging out.
Who cooks at home?…
ME! Though, he will throw a steak on the grill every now and then.
your husband?
Dell’Anima. I
Sodi. One of the Momofukus. Txikito.
What is your favorite dish on your husband’s menu at
Appetizer of sautéed sweetbreads,
pork belly & morels
How about a least favorite (yes, you must pick one)?
Calves’ liver—good dish, but the liver is
cut too thick for my taste.
Any new projects on the horizon? Perhaps
a husband-and-wife venture. Spill the
beans….
We’ve
both got our hands full and appreciate the separation of church and state.
What’s it like being married to someone in the business?
I could not imagine being in a relationship with a 9 to 5er. There are many sacrifices to be made in this
business and not having to constantly explain and defend them helps the
relationship.
What’s your take on your wife’s accomplishments as one of
the top wine directors in
City
I’m extremely proud of her and she does it with such apparent ease it
makes my head spin. She is so humble about it.
Do you ever ask her for advice on your list?
No, not really and neither does she.
What’s your favorite place to eat with your wife on a night
off?
We like to go restaurant hopping. We often find ourselves at Terroir, dell’anima, i sodi, Spotted Pig, Txikito.
What food trends do you wish would just die already?
What’s
annoying is when something really interesting (like molecular gastronomy)
becomes trendy & then is adapted by the masses & gets bastardized into
something like “liquid nitrogen dipped foamy mayo on a sous vide burger.”
You have quite a number of Swiss wines
on your list. Do you ever introduce your
wife to new wines? Any competition in
the house?
We have
similar likes and dislikes and make a semi-conscious effort not to cross “wine
list wires” too often, but we do share samples and sometimes both end up buying
the same wine.
You’ve been running quite a few recession specials, including a DOW Dog, which
priced a beer and a bratwurst based on the closing level of the Dow Jones. Any
new specials in the imminent future?
As soon
as it cools down a bit, we’ll run a suckling pig hero and Six Point beer
special.
Do you foresee Juliette and you working on a project together?
I love
my wife!
What do you talk about other than food & wine?
Is there
anything else? Politics, gardening,
friends, my aging body.
Do you have any kids? Would you like to
start a family? We bet they’d be culinary protégés…
Not yet,
but working on it. Probably keep them far away from the restaurant business.
When you go out to eat, do you two find yourselves analyzing the food and the
wine list, thinking of how to make it better?
We try
not to talk about it obsessively when we’re on a date, though it’s hard not
to notice things, good and bad. We know how hard it is to run a restaurant,
plus we need a break from it sometimes!.
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